tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43480730836588788082024-03-17T17:19:22.516+08:00Random ShotsA blog about everything that interests me...family, friends, interests, country, world..AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.comBlogger1488125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-71926993486750683422020-11-19T00:42:00.007+08:002020-11-19T00:42:50.226+08:00Broken?<p>Education in doldrums... An already broken education system given a really hard whack by Covid-19. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiENhyCFnjMb9FnvqmQtbYgKm7DaAMmWiYS6HRFY8Os70pWFPzjO8icYYuCUv0D7KgPkiv4mhM0aTqvoLnXhN9vF_hIzVtCEQFTgCjCOrzcYfTnRI1jTlEG3hz864X3ttrD0FFr1NOm4yQ/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="976" data-original-width="1540" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiENhyCFnjMb9FnvqmQtbYgKm7DaAMmWiYS6HRFY8Os70pWFPzjO8icYYuCUv0D7KgPkiv4mhM0aTqvoLnXhN9vF_hIzVtCEQFTgCjCOrzcYfTnRI1jTlEG3hz864X3ttrD0FFr1NOm4yQ/w320-h203/Screenshot+2020-11-19+at+12.27.24+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>I used to read about pandemics, that a big one should be coming soon. For years, I would teach about the 1918 Spanish Flu. There were a few close scares along the way, SARS, Nipah Virus closer to home but I think most of us felt that the big one won't come. After all, we have all the science... we know all the science.</p><p>Yet, it did hit. And its name is Covid-19. Going to be a year since the virus was announced to the world.</p><p>In January this year, I read about the Wuhan virus. It had no name yet but I started teaching about it to my students. I hashed up my own materials, scour the net for stuff which I could use. I told my students that what was happening in Wuhan was going to blow up. I felt it will not pass us by and for a couple of weeks starting from end of January, many of my lessons evolved around the pandemic which was raging in Wuhan. </p><p>The virus reached our shores shortly. However, at school everything was running as usual. The Principal never seemed to pay much heed to the dangers. As a matter of fact, just a day before the MCO students were still gathered in closed rooms for programmes. I tried saying that it wasn't in the kids' best interest. It was just brushed off. This same callous response to the ongoing pandemic would be seen repeatedly throughout the year. We just seem to think and feel that it will not affect us. </p><p>11 months on, one Movement Control Order and 2 CMCOs down the road, with an end seemingly in sight because vaccines are on the way. However, it has been a year of disruptions in schools. Out of the usual 40 plus weeks of school that we usually have, the physical school has been off for more than half that time. Going online has laid open our incredible shortcomings. Billions of dollars spent and still reports say about 40% of students do not have proper gadgets/access for online education.</p><p>How can we be ready for online learning? I think it is an uphill struggle. The reason? Many of our heads belong to that era where chalk and talk seems to be the only rule of the day. Soon after the MCO ended and school resumed, I asked permission for students to be allowed to bring their mobiles so that I could continue to work on the online platform that I had been working on during the MCO. The answer was no. In fact, the whole school went back to doing things the old way. As the weeks wore on, more 'normal' programs were cooked up. </p><p>Extra classes made their returns. Never mind that a pandemic was still raging. I have never seen such silliness. Extra hours when we are supposed to mitigate the exposure. I have seen also how labelling of such classes kept evolving to escape the SOPs. It is as if the school too was playing a cat and mouse game. When Extra Classes were not allowed, they changed the name to Bengkel. When that too was disallowed, they changed it further to Kelas Lanjutan PdP. Yet they were all the same.... in the face of a pandemic, even the ones who supposed to be leading were scheming and plotting. Makes me wonder what we are teaching kids cos I don't think the kids don't see it. </p><p>The extra classes above have peculiar purposes. Students were made to stay back for an hour after school. All the kids did was this... they were to complete the work their subject teachers mete out, in other words, homework. They were instructed to complete those work under the watchful eyes of teachers who were assigned to watch them like hawks. It was the most unproductive sessions I have seen and yet, they continued it. What made it rather irrational was amidst it all, there was a raging pandemic. I often wondered what good would all the seemingly extra cramming do when all the kids did was just to do their homework when the same could be achieved at home. Such is the state of the minds of those who head our schools these days.</p><p>So, a year on... I have learned a lot also during this pandemic. I made my first teaching video for the first time in my life. As much as I hated to hear my own voice and see myself in a screen, I did it. I picked up more editing know-hows in the process too. Played a bit with emojis and bitmojis. Turns out the learning curve isn't so steep this round. However, with age catching on and up, sitting too long in one position can be kind of a torture these days too. </p><p>I have also learned that online teaching is actually like a truth serum. Lessons on WhatsApp, WeChat, Telegram, Google Classroom.. the list is very long. And when the reports start rolling in, it seems like they are working fine. Yet around me, from the kids I know, online lessons feel like a sham at times. There are some really good 'reviews' but those are far and few... </p><p>It is going to be one year of disruptions and it looks like it might spill over to 2021. But this seems to hold true... for a good online teaching/learning session, you need a really good teacher. But these days, they define good teachers as ones who 'borrow' videos from the net and send them as the lesson for the day for their students... Whatever happened to teaching....</p><p>2020... they year teachers repost videos (not theirs)... great isn't it?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /> that teach for them.<p></p>AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-69317124060906022322019-08-06T09:51:00.001+08:002021-01-01T22:49:43.285+08:00See A Wrong... Keep QuietFrom KH1 I went to KH2 and I saw there in 7 months probably sounds unbelievable. There is a teacher who is known to use profanities in class. I shared a PE class with him and it looked like he did not return the exam papers to his students. Further conversations with students imply that he has been like this for many years. Yet the school does nothing about his ways.<br />
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Kids from the less privileged backgrounds with parents who don't know any better. I think I am seeing for myself how they are 'bullied' too. Unable to make these kids see the importance of learning, many teachers just plod in the way they know. It is common to see teachers teaching but students behaving as if there is no teacher in the class. When punishment is meted up, it is often harsh. The cane is used because the school doesn't know what else to do to keep the kids silent. The cane is used because the kids refused to do their homework. The method salvaged some but generally we are losing more than we salvage. Public caning used to be a norm but I heard it hasn't been happening since I left. It is a bit peculiar how my leaving would stop such a practice.<br />
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If my first encounter with the teacher bully filled me with surprise, I no longer am surprised at the existence of such teachers. In the past 7 months, I have heard stories from students how the teachers have slapped them on their faces or used the rubber bands to flick their ears. I have also heard from students how teachers show their power at the slightest bit of excuse. One kid even told me that his teacher crumpled his folio because the papers weren't stapled. How do you expect kids to love learning with such kind of behaviour.<br />
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You get reasons that these kids are repeat offenders. Teachers tell you they can't change. These kids are labelled hopeless and incorrigible. And I wonder if it's us who have lost our way or the kids.<br />
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Everyone is looking for quick solutions without looking at themselves or how they have also contributed to the problem. You have Principals who keep coming up with programmes because the grades are falling. You have PKs who chase the teachers to discipline, manage, run projects or programmes. You have GKs who breathe down the teachers' necks for reports and more reports. And finally the poor teachers who have to receive all these brick brats from the top people.<br />
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I was reading some messages on the School Social Media App. These days, they use WhatsApp, Telegram to run the school. A teacher reports on the app that students are missing from class. The response from the PK HEM can be something like this. "Go record it in the school system." If you check again later, nothing is done. Gone seems to the days when PKs go running round the school to look for these kids who have played truant. These days digitalisation simply means that. Record it into the system and it will appear as a statistic. And so, the state of the discipline continue to slide. Everyone is pushing the responsibility to everyone. It feels to me like the education system will implode.<br />
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I had a conversation with a friend. He said that schools should appreciate and keep teachers who still want to truly teach. I replied Principals don't want that. They want obedient teachers. Obedient teachers that form the pack and move as a pack, values be damned.<br />
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So is education really about education these days? Or education never was really education. Perhaps too, the real education never did lie within the institutions. Perhaps real education lies outside the grasp of the institutions. Real education would grow the mind and will. Institutions are set by parameters, not just the physical but it dictates too what you are to learn and master.<br />
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Public schools are in a dismal state. It's tiring just to try to do the right thing. Perhaps too, just sit back, do as everyone. That's what most are doing. The rot has set in too deep... and to restore it would take more than just political will. A whole generation is now being lost... and it's always the poor who lose more.<br />
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All those sweet sounding words.. all the noble talks about making a change in the lives of the kids... they are just words amidst a decaying and crumbling system. Sad.<br />
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<br />AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-3109659094342617812019-06-26T22:13:00.003+08:002021-01-02T15:56:56.641+08:00And The Student Called the Teacher Ah Gua<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">So, people are taking sides ... teacher vs student, public vs mother. The kid won’t get too much sympathy for sure. After all, she started it...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Somebody posted out the poor girl’s results. In the midst of all these, obviously many forget that she’s still 13. One tends to do lots of crazy stuff at that age. Emotionally they are also trying to make sense of themselves... </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Then the teacher who lost it. I cannot understand why so many condone caning. The marks on the kid were telling. It was caning done out of control. And he is the adult. If teachers cannot hold their temper or emotions in check, then students’ lives will be in danger.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The SOP on caning is clear. No caning for the girls. Say what we want but the guidelines are clear. And it’s there for a reason. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Yet, caning... so many seems to swear by it. Nostalgia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">But imagine this...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">A school where the cane reigns supreme. You are late. You get caned. You talk to your friends during the school reading time... caned again. You skip your ‘extra class’ ... yup, caned again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Then the hair issues in some Chinese conforming schools... 2 weeks after you have cut your hair. You are told it is now too long... lagi kena rotan. Then have your hair cut in full view of everyone who passes by... cane and more caning. The sound of whipping is the one common sound.... over hair which does not break the limits set by the MOE guidelines. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Should we try this instead? Engaging students, making them understand, moving on with times, staying relevant... would an engaged student be calling a teacher Ah Gua?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Yet, you get bored kids. Those grades.. which have been displayed to shame this kid. You get lots of those these days. Some say it is the good life that’s causing them to lose focus. I think it’s more than that. Most don’t see relevance of what is taught in the class with their lives.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I see kids being lined up and whipped in public, right in plain sight of everyone. Girls being caned too.. now is everyone okay with their kids being dished that in school regularly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">We desensitise the kids. We normalise caning as a solution to disciplinary problems. It is not. Caning, quick solution for quick adherence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">A walk down my own memory lane. P</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">rimary school. I was in Std 2. I always had perfect score for my spelling... cos one mistake ... and the cane awaited. Well, I am human... so like the fallible human... one day, after almost half a year, I made a mistake. The trepidation when lining up to be caned. 😂</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Guess what? After that day, I didn’t really care much about being caned any more. It didn’t matter to me any more because my childish mind discovered that I could numb myself to the pain and humiliation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Oh! I continued to get perfect scores still for my spelling. But the occasions when I did not, I didn’t think the caning made a difference to ensuring that I hit the perfect score all the time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Yah.. there might be bad parenting here. But that’s a mother being instinctive. Her language showed her not to be very polished. But put anyone of us in a situation like this... I think most of us would be tongue tied. The school office can also be a very intimidating place... </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">There was excessive show of force in the Ah Gua teacher case. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">There was misbehaviour most definitely. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">And you also have a mother who got really, really defensive. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">And yes. The mother viralled it. Good idea? Don’t think so. But years from now, this video might serve as the starting point of a greater awareness for stakeholders involved.</span></div>
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AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-24036751914230860732019-06-06T11:17:00.001+08:002019-08-07T21:55:43.564+08:00How A School Can Fail To Deliver?<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?rinli=1&pli=1&blogID=4348073083658878808" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?rinli=1&pli=1&blogID=4348073083658878808" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?rinli=1&pli=1&blogID=4348073083658878808" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>I met an ex-student recently at an event. Taught him in Form 4 last year. I would still be teaching him this year had I not been transferred out from the school over <a href="https://amelia7.blogspot.com/2019/02/applying-pak21-skills-smjk-keat-hwa-1.html">the teacher bullying case</a>. It’s been more than half a year since I saw him. And he has grown taller... and better looking too.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqgyeKw4xXCLQYubxmReV_YPyy1HvyyBAKbVtG8rJLrqywzi7ek53jZrqL0dJwYGip511aCJh72Se9ZSnwsjgFnyuhwJxLN1t-2vc30G9kJ38Ozpe1wyYdF8lc3Oy7YPqcErP9dU36hAo/s1600/039BF562-A48A-408D-A017-A483A5932500.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqgyeKw4xXCLQYubxmReV_YPyy1HvyyBAKbVtG8rJLrqywzi7ek53jZrqL0dJwYGip511aCJh72Se9ZSnwsjgFnyuhwJxLN1t-2vc30G9kJ38Ozpe1wyYdF8lc3Oy7YPqcErP9dU36hAo/s320/039BF562-A48A-408D-A017-A483A5932500.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
So I called him over, as I sat on the floor and he squatting, we had a conversation about him. Now, this was a boy I regularly reprimanded for skipping classes due to a co-curricular activity. Today I found out that he was one of those given a place in SMJK Keat Hwa 1 for his ability to contribute to the school for that particular co-curricular activity. You see, there were many such kids accepted into the school to boost up the co-curricular achievements... basketball and band mainly. To bring up the school name in various aspects, diversity is required. Other schools have other sports with this same scheme, football, hockey... the chase<br />
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These activities actually good for the students. After all, co-curricular activities school a child in the soft skills. It gives opportunity for leadership training and so on. It teaches them sportsmanship, They catch many other skills from playing with other kids. And these skills will be useful when they begin to interact with the world.<br />
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However, things do not look so nice once you know what goes on to keep those honours coming in. Lots of training hours are required.<br />
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In my former school, KH1, kids basically have no time for co-curricular activities unless you structure it and make it achievement based. Then the kids get wowed and their parents too. Another problem is practice time. To win a world band title is no easy feat. Many hundred hours of practice are required. To enable a brass band to move with the precision required to win a world title would mean a lot of resources as well as man hours. Resources are easy enough to source. The Board and PTA will pay a trainer to do the coaching coach. That is the easy part.<br />
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The training part is not so easy. Where do you find time for kids who have tuition packed throughout the week? Enter some creative arrangements. Permission slips are give out to members to practice during school hours. And this is where we begin to see how the delivery system fails our kids.<br />
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You give a kid an opportunity to skip classes and bets are all on that they will stay out of class for as long as possible. After all, who would want to sit in the class and listen to boring lessons which many feel they will be able to get in their private tuitions? As long as the tuition centres out there are on the right track, things would be fine. But one can always expect that as mainstream system deteriorates, the same would be seen in the private tuition systems too.<br />
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I specifically remember 2 of my students. That was the year when they had a major competition. Both kids were in Form 5. That year both of them were missing from my classes for 3 to 4 months. Each time I ‘chased’ them to attend classes, it was always band practice. And the school allowed it. They are given the permission slip by the PK Kokurikulum, sanctioned by the school. If memory serves me right, one of them failed his history. We teachers, have no say when the kids wave their permission slips.<br />
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Now, I wonder how many unsuspecting parents are there who do not realise that their kids skipped classes for all these extra practices. Many students will tell you too that they go to school not to learn. They have tuitions outside to settle that. School is for them socialise, get involved in activities. But many forget too that there are kids who can catch on quickly and kids who need more time to cope with their lessons. And for those who cannot cope, the results can be disastrous.<br />
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As the deterioration becomes apparent, I think we have come to a stage where we are seeing kids who are having real issues of learning. The academically weaker kid from a vernacular school often has dismal language mastery. Because of that, going MIA from classes is bad for them. For those kids who were brought in so that they can play basketball for the school or be in the band, those activities become the cause for the further deterioration in their studies. And the school knowingly allow it. And parents seem to not know any better.<br />
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These kids would do much better had they gone to national schools because they would at least leave school being able to use Bahasa Melayu. Being in a Chinese school, they bring glory for the school but they lose so much themselves because they lose themselves in the system.<br />
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As for the school brass band, I don’t know how the unsuspecting parents cannot see that they will hardly see any of the school teachers’ children joining the band. That fact should have sent some alarm bells to them.<br />
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The constant practices that eat into lesson time is wrong to begin with. Also, outside coaches who are not teachers push their agendas without really understanding their charges’ problems because they also need to show results to be able to continue to ply their trade. For them what matters are the medals, the wins. These are some of the problems brought in by a system that pays its way for everything. In a way, it reduces the teacher’s load but at the same time, it brings in other problems. As for a band member who has been part of the team which may have won a world title.... what use is that achievement if he leaves the school without his SPM certificate or without the required language skills?<br />
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It feels like the school has made used of these kids without really seeing into their welfare.<br />
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As for our conversation, the teenager had this to say. He knows his basketball prowess isn’t going to bring him any further. I asked him if he passed any of his subjects. He said, how to pass. He has been sleeping in class most of the time and he didn’t even study at all. I told him not to give up yet... with our SPM full of surprises, there is still hope yet.<br />
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So, how relevant are our schools really? As schools try to make a name for themselves, it looks like many kids become casualties too... this is one facet of our education which we rarely talk about. Yet I have seen it happening but most will not acknowledge.<br />
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I don’t believe that kids cannot learn anything. All kids (unless they have some disabilities) should be able to learn the basic skills set by the curriculum. When they fail to learn those basic skills it can only mean that we have failed to make students see the relevance, either through carelessness or downright apathy.<br />
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<br />AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-31433303413194871032019-05-28T05:05:00.000+08:002019-08-06T06:03:48.338+08:00Basketball and Hari Raya... and what the Minister of Education Says<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This message was published in the papers recently. Apparently after some laments (these days teachers are but mere stooges and kuli who must obey the principals) the Minister of Education released some press statements that school breaks should be kept as school breaks. But it is often hard not to have any activities during the break at school... </div>
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This mid year break also coincides with the Hari Raya Puasa. So, one can imagine how many people are looking forward to it. For the Muslim teachers, it’s a break from the grind at school. For the students, it’s holidays. I think many kids find holidays boring, unless their parents take them on a trip. But, the economy is not doing well. Many families are making do with less expensive or no mid year holidays. </div>
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Then the message came above as school heads continue to ‘force’ teachers to hold Program Peningkatan. Actually the Program Peningkatan is extra class. But because extra classes cannot be forced upon the teachers, school heads have cleverly rebranded extra classes as Program Peningkatan. And teachers are pressured to give extra classes. It has come to the point where some teachers have cannot go for their holidays, which of course these heads will point to the regulations that they have a right to call the teachers back for a certain number of days during the break. So, it becomes a norm to see kids in full uniform, at 1.00 noon during school breaks. </div>
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Which of course highlights this basketball tournament. Organised by the Conforming Chinese Schools, they decided to have it during this break too because apparently (again) there is no other suitable date. The point is, the organisers figured that since this involves only the Chinese schools, therefore it is okay to have it during the fasting month, even though it is held so near to the Hari Raya... which is still fine, except that the Muslim teachers who are getting ready for their Hari Raya had to go on duty too. It is a Conforming Chineses Schools competition but Malays teachers had to be involved too, with Raya just a few days away, because the Principal of the organizing school said so. This is where, it crosses into being inconsiderate. </div>
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So apparently, now the Ministry advises schools to cancel activities during the break so that everyone can get a break. Question now... why allow an event such as this to be carried out under its auspices, so near the Hari Raya.</div>
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<br />AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-86516600189526764322019-05-14T16:34:00.001+08:002019-05-16T08:03:58.849+08:004000 MINUTES... TERBUANG<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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What is 4000 minutes to a teacher? Been thinking about it for the past few months.<br />
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Schools are supposed to inculcate a love for reading in their students. So they craft all sorts of programmes to instil that love for reading. From NILAM to Reading Corner to Morning Reading Session, they hope to get students to want to read. After all, we know those kids won't be doing much lifelong learning or self-directed learning if they don't like reading.<br />
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NIILAM has been going on for years. Schools try to cajole, coerce, force and even threaten kids to get NILAM going, though I think NILAM has gone into <a href="https://www.bharian.com.my/berita/nasional/2018/11/493188/iqnilam-ditangguhkan-untuk-ditambah-baik">cold-storage for the time being</a>. However, I think NILAM has not succeeded in most schools simply because there wasn't much concerted effort put into it. Teachers have too many other things on their hands.</div>
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Reading Corner, on the other hand, collects dust after the initial brouhaha dies. It sits in the corners of classrooms, school compound, collecting dust... and eventually cobwebs, the reading materials aged by the unforgiving weather.</div>
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<b>Enter Morning Reading Programme</b>. In my school they force everyone to gather at the assembly area. Kids can't go to the classroom. So they are forced to sit there till reading starts at 7.20 a.m. If you walk into a school for the first time and see this programme, you'd be forgiven for being impressed. I mean, how not to. That is until you actually see it in action for a couple of weeks, when you, as a teacher are forced to sit there with the kids. After a few weeks, you will begin to notice that kids actually don't read. They just sit and stare at whatever printed stuff they are holding, under the watchful eyes of the prefects and discipline teachers...<br />
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As a teacher, I find it a chore after a few weeks. I mean, before I even get to sit down and work on my lesson, it's time to go down. And I am one who often arrives at school before 7.00 a.m. It is frustrating. These days, I make it a point to sit at the coffee shop before I go to school since the canteen food is rather unpalatable. Why torture myself some more?<br />
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When asked why the teachers have to sit there, I was told we need to read with the students, be a reading role model. Lol! After a couple of months, I find myself resenting having to sit there. I find myself telling myself, why even bother to prepare the lessons when the school doesn't see the need for teachers to settle down or prepare their lessons. Lol! Lesson prep is not important. Sitting there and wasting time is... for a show.</div>
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And, I asked a few classes what they thought of the Morning Reading Programme. One student even said she felt like an idiot sitting there. Even the younger ones said they do not like sitting there. Who can blame them. In the beginning I thought it was a good idea. But after a few months, I can see that I was wrong to think so. A school is also a place where kids play. These kids' lives are regimented from the time they step into school. So how fun is it to sit there? If I were one of the kids, I'd hate it. Lol!<br />
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And it got me thinking about the time it forces the teachers to waste. 10 minutes of sitting there waiting for the kids to finish reading. I am already in no mood to read because my mind will be on the lessons for the day. I get cheesed off because I would probably want to work on my computer or print some worksheets for my students. My printer is up there printing and I'd be thinking, did I leave enough paper in it? Would the paper jam ... that's a real worry cos I used recycled papers whenever possible. Life is a constant hurry, a harried rush down and then up again... so much energy wasted. 20 minutes a day.<br />
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A schooling year is an average of 200 days. The school wastes 4000 minutes for me without me having to do it myself. But I am not the only teacher. If there are 60 teachers, that is a whopping 240,000 minutes! And 20 minutes is an understatement. Very often it runs to 30 minutes, when there is a spot-check for hair length (that is another topic to ramble on), for example. So much time wasted. So much goodwill burnt. So much forcing down the throat the need to read... so I guess the students must have a very high level literacy ability. But sadly, it is not so.<br />
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So yeah.. READING IS HOW WE INSTALL 'SOFTWARES' INTO OUR HEADS.. but when done for show, those heads in the assembly area will still be empty even after 200 days of 10 minutes-a-morning enforced reading.<br />
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Want to see how to kill the love for reading??? I think one can safely make an assumption that such a Morning Reading Session will kill it... many, many times over. Want to really get kids to love reading.. inspire the teachers to do so. We'd achieved more this way.<br />
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AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-69547345491809215612019-05-02T19:37:00.001+08:002019-05-03T12:27:17.044+08:00Hari Guru Hijacked<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_Y3-zvpeyjeRvNCn1psTiHcnX4Nz-yU2lV5iOiBdQGyD7Jzep70G7ypVuyeFtwg6ZVQK2r8N-emokguX0cJClmpHQqHpP32KI4GOuTcepS9gkwsU5vnO_hKtxDv_pvRdNQG3LM-nNs4/s1600/Teachers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="176" data-original-width="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_Y3-zvpeyjeRvNCn1psTiHcnX4Nz-yU2lV5iOiBdQGyD7Jzep70G7ypVuyeFtwg6ZVQK2r8N-emokguX0cJClmpHQqHpP32KI4GOuTcepS9gkwsU5vnO_hKtxDv_pvRdNQG3LM-nNs4/s1600/Teachers.jpg" /></a>So, what actually is Hari Guru or Teachers' Day for? Is it a day for students to show appreciation for their teachers or what?<br />
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I feel Teachers' Day has been hijacked. Hijacked because it is no longer a day for students to appreciate their teachers. It is more a day of show, and more show.. a lot of physical activities with expected superficial responses.... perhaps that's also a reflection of what we have all become.<br />
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The fanfare may all be there. Teachers seemingly being feted yet there seems to be an emptiness of sorts. This year, it is no different.<br />
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A special assembly. Class parties banned. Students reminded to attend school under guarded breath. You wonder why... The usual assembly, followed by the usual oath taking and the teacher song by teachers. I find it strange that students scream (or yelled) at any given opportunity during the 'show'. I don't think so our singing was that awesome. But the screaming goes to show the seeping of a concert going culture. Perhaps these kids are just so bored that they become like that at the slightest opportunity, an opportunity to let it all go, to assert themselves. To scream to claim the space or attention.<br />
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This year, though in another school, the celebration to me was just as staid as before. It would be nice if kids were allowed to have their class parties. Somehow it is always nicer to be able to go class to class at your own pace. You get to do real mingling with your students in a more relaxed environment. I always believe that working together for a common cause teaches us to be better people. When we remove the class parties, we remove so much of those unseen lessons. For me the joke becomes this... teachers feting themselves on Teachers' Day. I mean, what sense is there for teachers to organise a day to appreciate them. Are we focusing on self appreciation? It is rather comical.<br />
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The best things each year for me are those well thought out little gifts that kids made themselves for me. Homemade cookies, little cards with heartwarming messages and things that they thought out. I think they are the most priceless appreciation a teacher can have, I feel. Instead they congregated everyone in the hall... an institution institutionalising her own because it is way easier to exert control... and put on a show that something is being done... hijacked for convenience.<br />
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So, we have this stage show. Teachers sitting down there. Students screaming and yelling as if they were in a concert. So much fanfare, yet one can be forgiven to feel the sterility of it.<br />
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I spent a good part of the day fixing a fan with a colleague in the classroom that I am using. Figured might as well used the time to get the fan fixed ourselves so that the students will be more comfortable. The weather has been very unforgiving. Pleas for more fans have fallen on deaf ears because I was told all classroom in Malaysia are hot and stuffy. I can never understand why a school can raise hundreds of thousands of ringgit or embark on an endeavour to build a hall or some other buildings but not embark of projects to make classrooms more comfortable. How can they expect kids to study and even stay focussed if the classrooms are like mini ovens? Is it because things fixed in the classroom cannot be seen cos they are not imposing? We focus on the big things but ignore the small things...<br />
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In between fixing and trying to get my exam papers ready, we were 'invited' to go watch the concert. For me who just cannot stand loud noises, watching a concert is a torture to the ears and the mind. My own kids asked me to join them for the Ed Sheeran concert in KL recently... it definitely would have been an experience with more wow than the one this morning but I told them to go have a good time, minus me. Cos I don't like crowds and noise. I even gladly sponsored the tickets for them.<br />
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Teachers' Day... it would be nice just to let the teachers have their day. Instead, these days, many schools force teachers to watch, be part of a show that is put up yet minus all the personal touches... Everything planned.. everything organised... but the heart and soul left out. And in the end you are supposed to partake of it and pretend that it is the best thing that could have been done.<br />
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This year... despite in a new place... there were 2 cards... 2 different groups of students. One had this phrase... 'never a dull moment in your class'. They mean more than any of those other organised stuff... We no longer teach kids to take the trouble to appreciate those around them. We take things into our hands because we feel we know better. We don't... that is the sad thing. Our education system is run by these people who feel that they know best.....<br />
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Oh ya... every year they have this cake cutting ceremony... the irony of it.. Teachers' Day... yet those who stood in front, taking all the photos, doing all the cutting... the admin and the invited guests... all the while.. the teachers standing behind... Teachers' Day Hijacked. Lol!<br />
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The essence and the spirit of Teachers' Day are gone, hijacked.. I wonder by who?<br />
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One more thing.. they tried to have a special celebration for teachers who had their birthdays from Jan to June. Thing is when you do something like this, make sure you comb through your teachers list. Lol! They left me out... not that I mind cos I would not have budged from my seat for that sort of thing but it goes to show that it might be better just to opt that out...<br />
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Anyway, teaching is not so important these days... holding extra classes, winning competitions... those seem far more important than the mundane, routine work of building character... It is easy to see why. One gives instant recognition while the other ... well you might not even feel the fruits. Yet, without the latter, our country would surely face a further decline too...<br />
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Ramblings about Hari Guru... hijacked.AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-32635564254842899392019-04-09T05:25:00.002+08:002019-08-06T05:52:28.561+08:00Musings about TeachingAm beginning to lose faith in the system. Thinking perhaps it is time to throw in the towel. People who know me laugh at me when I tell them that, saying that's not me. Lol! I guess they forget that here is a limit called 'survival' and when that is breached it's just survival from then on. We are generally expected to be conforming.. either to a set of values, image for example.<br />
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My last few months have been a rollercoaster of sorts because of a teacher bully case who was my colleague. Having believed that such behaviour should not be tolerated by anyone, I foolishly stood up. And even when the signals were there that our value system has changed, I still steadfastly voiced out for action. But still that didn't deter me because I felt kids needed an advocate... for the right reasons. And so, I wasn't too perturbed even by the fact that I was transferred by a system that went against its own for something so serious like a teacher bullying students. I guess too verbal bullying is okay... the message from all those people with <i>pangkat</i> seems to indicate so.<br />
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Then recently, an academic cluster of excellence school, suffered a drop in its SPM results. The drop was marked enough for certain quarters to voice displeasure. And suddenly, there was this flurry of teachers being transferred. We suddenly began hearing teachers with good credentials and from the non-bumi race being transferred from their respective schools into the cluster school. Now these were Guru Cemerlang, teachers with C2 in their CPT exams (for English), teachers who were 'acknowledged' as being good by proof of APC.... Their schools are those normal day schools which struggle with less than sterling students. The cluster school meanwhile gets selected students with excellent results in the UPSR.<br />
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This is where it gets really interesting. For years, many of us were reminded that all teachers are the same in terms of ability. But this whole incident smacks a peculiarity that defies that perception. Suddenly we have this transfers of non-bumi teachers into a cluster school who over the years have been seen a decline in its non-bumi students as well as teachers. And of course, in the process of the transfers, you have bumi teachers who had to be transferred out to make way for former. And this takes place in March, at a time all schools have set into a routine.... not forgetting to the teachers on transfer who now find their very own lives disrupted to.<br />
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Then yesterday, I saw the extra classes list. The weather has been very punishing of late. Temperatures soaring to 38-39 degrees Centigrades in the afternoons, less than desirable conditions of the class because of the lack of fans as well as the design of the school which makes it into a perfect heat trapper, in the pursuit of CGPA, there is this demand for extra class. Now why does the admin of a school demand extra classes without consulting the teachers? And even in some cases where teachers insist that they do not want to hold the classes, they are forced upon them?<br />
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Of late, Principals keep reminding the teachers that they need to carry out these Program Peningkatan (read that as forced free tuition to be given by teachers after school hours) because PPD/JPN will demand an explanation from them if the results drop. So holding a Program Peningkatan will be proof that something has been done.<br />
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And that's where too I think we miss another point. The Program Peningkatan in most schools, I suspect is not running. Teachers are too tired. Students too. The classrooms are uncomfortable. We are making kids stay back after 7-8 hours of enforced learning in sweltering heat. Holding these extra classes are just not effective without proper rest.<br />
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Teaching time during school hours... how much of that is actually happening??? How much of it is wasted? Yet we tax the teachers without realising that it's the heart of the teacher for the students that actually makes the world of difference.<br />
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The heart of a teacher, the effort put into moulding a kid and imparting values... those are the important things. Yet what I am seeing, is a system lost in its own labyrinth, one that is of its own making. A system that has been eaten away by its own policies of segregating and compromising.<br />
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An illustration. In the teaching of languages for example, a student is supposed to learn a few short stories, poems and novels. So, what is a teacher supposed to do? Teaching novel is always one of the more difficult thing to do. So what I am now being made aware is there are teachers who are clueless how to get students to read those novels. Yet the school admin breathe down hard on them to produce results. So what some teachers do is they give the question to the students before the exam, sometimes complete with the answer. Students sit for the school exams, get good scores, marks look good on the score sheet... teacher gets breathing space.<br />
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One would think that the public exam should be able to weed these students out. Yet, as a teacher of almost 3 decades, I am constantly surprised by the number of As and passes that I seem to be hearing from students who actually do not show those qualities of a Cemerlang student. A student who has trouble writing cohesive sentences now can score A and even A+. And so, we tap ourselves on our shoulders and tell the world how great our students are and how effective our efforts are.<br />
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But that all stops when these same students enter the job market. We begin to hear laments from the market about how incompetent or unmovable these now young adults are. This shouldn't be as the students were A scorers in the public exams. Where did we go wrong? Have we compromised so much that we no longer are able to discern what quality actually is? Or are we just proverbial ostriches with our heads in the sand?<br />
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And so, in trying to maintain grades, more rote learning, more extra classes... more of everything that produces mechanical thinking and disinterest in knowledge...<br />
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We did have a good education system once... in an era without the need of PAK21 models. Those days we had thinking teachers but more importantly, teachers who were dedicated and taught. We didn't need extra class.... and we didn't turn out too badly. There weren't laments from the employers about the quality of graduates... if there were laments, it was from the graduates who lament about the market not being able to provide employment opportunities because of economic downturns......<br />
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<br />AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-37965571207043350532019-03-20T00:00:00.002+08:002019-08-07T22:45:55.121+08:00SMJK Keat Hwa 1: Sijil Berhenti FiascoHaih... so there is word going around that I gave my last year's class at school Kelakuan B on purpose and the Attendance was left blank. The thing is I think I forgot to fill in and passed it back to the Form Supervisor... cannot remember whether it was last year or in the chaotic one day of moving stuff out of my room at school during my surprise and very quick transfer which the Principal claimed my colleague and I had arranged ourselves. In the final analysis, things will always look bad on the small people.<br />
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We had to move our stuff very quickly. And the joke was, I passed the keys of the room that I occupied to a colleague after the very whirlwind move. That colleague didn't even have the chance to pass the keys to the office the next day cos they cut the lock to the door. Now, why would they do that? Cos could have just called us for the keys but they chose to cut the lock... Makes you wonder what kind of 'thoughts' they had... cos not like they didn't have my number. But nah... they had to bring out the cutter... If you apply some PAK skills here.. you'd be wondering why about that juvenile-like reaction.<br />
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Then my sudden transfer with my colleague because I <i>bising</i> too much about the teacher bully. The Principal claimed my colleague and I had worked out the transfers without his knowledge with the PPD... how he could claim so when we were given the rudest treatment when we went to see him to ask him why.... (3 minutes which I can replay at will).... that remains a wonderment to me at how smooth he can weave himself in and out with his smooth talking ways. The excuses (and lies) made by him were not necessary. Yet, he did it... sometimes it's best to just leave things be... but nah.. he had to keep justifying himself. Wonder why?<br />
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So, then I thought things have somewhat settled down again after all the flaks the past month. Then the SPM Sijil Berhenti issue came up. I am truly sorry that my students had to go through the process of asking for amendments to be made. It was an oversight on my part which I am truly sorry to my students.<br />
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But this also highlights the typical failure of the check and balance system put in place. The Form 5 Supervisor was supposed to have noticed that when the forms were in her hands. The PK1 and Principal should have taken note too cos the forms are passed up a chain of command. I remember when I was SU of SPM in another school, my then Principal would check through the certificates herself... that also, after reminding me countless times to check that everything be in order before the certs get to the students hands. (I think I will write more on this)<br />
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But what happened here is, I made a mistake. The mistake was missed by the Form 5 Supervisor who collected those forms. Then it was missed by the PK1/Principal who were supposed to oversee this thing. And finally before distribution, the SU SPM did not ensure that the certs were all properly completed. Class teachers were supposed to be the final check. The teacher bully was allowed to give her B grade to the very students she cursed and bullied for 2 whole years! And that kind of action is supposed to be okay? Where is the check and balance? Why do we even have all those 'pangkat' people sitting in their places then?<br />
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And so, when I commented about how this check and balance mechanisms failed, apparently some hell broke loose. Taking it as personal criticisms, those teachers went ballistic. Where earlier they had agreed to amend the Sijil Berhenti, it now became a personal thing. A poor student was asked to pass a message to me to delete my comment regarding the matter. I wonder if these teachers understand the responsibilities of the positions they are holding. I made a mistake, to which I readily apologise. But for them not to see that they failed as the check and balance mechanisms goes to show many things too.<br />
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These same teachers stayed on the sidelines when the same kids were bullied and had to go through all sorts of unthinkable things the teacher bully did. Many kept their silence because they felt it was none of their business. But a perceived criticism of them failing to see to the students' well-being was enough to unleash this perceived injustice on themselves, and what a show it was... ranting and venting it out on a student. And they readily agreed that these students who had no justice served to them in the teacher bully case had to be punished with another whammy. The other class who got all B happened to be my class. Where is the check and balance people who were supposed to watch out for the kids?<br />
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The same kids are victimised yet again. By the school this time.<br />
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So one day in the future such bullying behaviour is a norm and their own children become victims, it would be interesting to watch their responses. I hope they continue to stand by the sidelines. Yet some will say that their children were bullied by that teacher too... But as parents and teachers, they did not make a concerted effort to stop that bully. And she got worse. To make matters worse, when the issue of race is brought in, everything becomes even more muddled. As teachers, we must always be colour blind. Yet in such matters, even teachers get muted or blinded by race. What kind role models are we? How do we answer to the God we purportedly pray to everyday?<br />
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Hence too, it makes sense why so many Chinese kids I see are rather subdued in school... compliance is often by force or pain, or just by plain acceptance.<br />
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The reason for this post is simple... apparently students went to see the Principal regarding the matter and he retorted they deserved the B grade for Kelakuan. He is rather annoyed that some students like my posts, I supposed. We talk about developing character for the 21st century. How can we when students are taught that a wrong can be condoned? In a school.... where teachers are supposed to role model them, we role model them this way.... values be damned.<br />
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Anyway, back to my 2018 Form 5 class. In my class there is a very special student whom I always reminded my students to watch out for. For 2 years I always reminded his classmates to encourage him, and watch out for him. I would not intentionally give him a B because he is a good kid who has come a long, long way. I spent many hours thinking about him... And the school has no compassion nor the concern about such kids... in this school you are only valued if you have something to contribute. If you are ordinary or below ordinary, you are sidestepped. Everyone is just a statistic unless you are a privileged one. Lately, I am hearing that a lot... "if you are privileged."<br />
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Oh ya! One thing about this class of mine... it happens to be one of the 'back' classes. I am sure if it had been the first class, the Kelakuan thingy would have been avoided. They would have moved mountains to change it. The thing is, this supposedly last class that I was class teacher of... their results are rather outstanding this time around.... these are mostly kids I will 'label' as comeback kids.... for which I am very proud to have been part of their journey. These are kids who have learned to cross the racial boundaries, learned to watch out for each other despite many differences... many are beginning to believe in themselves in remarkable ways....<br />
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So, this Sijil thingy... I make no excuses for my oversight... but my mistake is also a reminder how the system in this school fails to take care of the kids. It seems like it is more about the teachers than the kids. Kids get bullied, they try to seek a solution and help from the Principal. Yet the same kids get bullied by the teachers via this way. Sympathy??? Nah!<br />
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<span style="color: red;">The irony now is this is now the school wielding its power. You see, if I had been mean in giving those kids a 'B' for their Kelakuan, then the school should protect them from me. Instead, they weaponise this by trying to get the kids to feel that I am this mean teacher. Plus they ranted and raved to a student. Is that professional? Where is the logic? Where is their decency? It feels like the oldest game being played out here... us vs them. And I have no interest in it actually. I apologise (to the kids) because it was my mistake. I could have been so tired or blur that I put in a Baik mistaking it as the best... but for whatever reason also, the many layers of check and balance in the system should have caught my mistake and rectified it. Unless there is no interest in the students best interest at work here. It is a no wonder the teacher bully got away... as long as you are one of them, toe their line... they will protect you... want to curse a kid to hell also okay. I wonder who the juvenile is here...</span><br />
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Oh ya! In frustration, I messaged an upright Board Member and told him how this can happen. But preach whatever too... in the end, other things will be more important.<br />
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Each time, I thought this school can be pushed to the background, surely something must come around to tickle me into some action...<br />
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SMJK Keat Hwa 1<br />
... as long lives this and this gives life to thee... Shakespeare's sonnet 18.<br />
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I guess this will remain the most memorable school in my career.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px;">For a complete picture of the incident:</span><br />
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<a href="https://amelia7.blogspot.com/2019/02/applying-pak21-skills-smjk-keat-hwa-1.html">SMJK Keat Hwa I: Beyond the Facade of Pride 2</a></div>
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<a href="https://amelia7.blogspot.com/2019/02/smjk-keat-hwa-1-kisah-guru-pembuli.html">SMJK Keat Hwa 1: Kisah Seorang Guru Pembuli</a></div>
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<a href="https://amelia7.blogspot.com/2019/01/smjk-keat-hwa-beyond-facade-of-pride.html">SMJK Keat Hwa 1: Beyond the Facade of Pride 1</a></div>
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<br />AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-26645959560029086322019-02-23T19:42:00.000+08:002019-08-06T05:55:22.713+08:00SMJK Keat Hwa 1: Teacher, Is It Worth It?<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHi9VYid_WPXTmBeg0T5yVz0lG7Q_f5At3meeX2J061sxalr_-CEV9UzQMLMbF8dckgq7O8WuVdPyCNn5-Sl0nQAE6KTLLieRCc6jnERobR7xRBYGomM0BxN2Kk8Y5RzUuULmPPXOFlEY/s1600/bullying-is-never-okay-thumbnail3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="about:invalid#zClosurez" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="about:invalid#zClosurez" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="996" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHi9VYid_WPXTmBeg0T5yVz0lG7Q_f5At3meeX2J061sxalr_-CEV9UzQMLMbF8dckgq7O8WuVdPyCNn5-Sl0nQAE6KTLLieRCc6jnERobR7xRBYGomM0BxN2Kk8Y5RzUuULmPPXOFlEY/s200/bullying-is-never-okay-thumbnail3.jpg" width="200" /><a href="about:invalid#zClosurez" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="about:invalid#zClosurez" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="about:invalid#zClosurez" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="about:invalid#zClosurez" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-kerning: none;"> It is the time of the year when results are out or are coming out. This is usually a busy time for me as students will come for chats to explore options. Over the years, this time of the year would be the time when there would be quite a few such impromptu sessions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This year, it is different. We to had meet for <i>yumcha</i> sessions instead. Boy! It’s a challenge trying to keep up with the young who feel that 12 midnight is still young like them. Been a long time I even stay out of the house past midnight. Lol!</span><br />
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Anyway, in one of the conversations, a former student asked if it was worth it, 'chasing' the teacher bully and getting transferred out from the school. I told her that I was anticipating it because the Principal didn’t seem to want to do anything about it and I had applied pressure that would make him retaliate. In fact, I had told a teacher in late October that the Principal would do that. At that time, the teacher said that would not happen. Turned out my gut feeling was right. It's not about whether it was worth it. At that time, to those students, it meant something for their voices to be heard.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"> Then she asked why I did it. This was because she said many of the students I stood up for didn’t appreciate what I did. I told her, how could I expect any of them to appreciate what I did. Anyway, I wasn’t expecting any. They were teenagers and for 2 years, they had been on the receiving end of verbal curses and intimidation. I told her, if a teacher comes into a class and berates, curses or scolds a student, wouldn’t the rest of the class just sit out quietly, and in their heart, hoping that she will continue with that one particular student and not zoom in on them? </span></div>
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<a href="about:invalid#zClosurez" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="about:invalid#zClosurez" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-kerning: none;"> Survival instincts would kick in and everyone will just hope that it would not be them who get the showers of verbal assaults. In such kinds of classes too there would also be less cooperation and trust among each other. It will be each person for his own because when ‘attacks’ come, you need to survive.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"> It wasn’t the teacher I had issues with. It was her behaviour. Actions and behaviour which were unbecoming of a teacher. And so, there I listed those behaviours as put forward by the students to the Principal in their meeting on the morning of 31/10/18. You find them in 3 sessions of meeting. They are taken from 3 sessions of recordings. </span></div>
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<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Teacher making the class monitor complete and mark her attendance monthly/daily. Even after being admonished by the Principal, she continued to do it by asking another student to do it because she was angry at the class monitor for going against her. </span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Using her position as a class teacher to intimidate the students. There have been incidents of previous batches who had their Kelakuan in their Sijil Berhenti bad because she didn’t like them. </span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">There was a case of missing funds (PIBG and magazine) which a student’s parents complained to the school. When the parent insisted that the money be returned, the student became a victim. He failed his BM consecutively during F5 until the trial exam, where he got an exact pass for the paper.</span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">The same student had his BM Lisan SPM given a score of below 10 marks. When the external examiner came and pulled his name out for a moderation exercise, he used the same material and the marks given were significantly higher.</span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">The students were worried for their siblings in the lower forms because they were worried that this teacher would take it out on them. An example was given where during a PT3 Lisan exam, for no reason, when a candidate entered the room, he was asked whether he was ‘so-and-so’s’ brother. Students talked about their older siblings’ experiences, all of which pointed towards a verbally abusive teacher. </span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">Students talked about the teacher being on her mobile phone during lessons most of the time and not teaching. Apparently she would be scrolling on the phone. </span></li>
<li style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-kerning: none;">She would also punish them by making them sit outside the class for 1-2 weeks for not completing just one question of a 50 or 100 questions exercise. Those students would sit out of the ‘class lessons’ for that duration of time.</span></li>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"> Now, these were the list of complaints put forward by those students. I asked the student if she would be okay with such kind of behaviour from a teacher. Silence ensued... </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The point is, many seem to think that I went overboard by pushing for a solution from the Principal. She said some students said they joined in the ‘fight’, and was looking for drama. I told her I knew that. You have victims, bystanders and what have you not in any scenario. </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This was a straightforward issue. It was regarding an abusive and unprofessional behaviour of a teacher. How do we condone and tolerate such behaviour? Worse still, apparently too, she had always been like that, for more than a decade in SMJK KH1. Did she become meaner over the years?</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A final point... the human mind is myriad of complex mix of emotions and logic. Many said that they learned to deal with her by shutting their ears and minds while she ranted and cursed. That's logic at work. But how many of us ever paused to thank our lucky stars that no one had actually snapped emotionally and mentally because of her abusive behaviour? That is where emotion might have taken over and caused permanent loss? So, what if one day, one kid... perhaps on an emo-roller-coaster…. is in class and the teacher curses her... and something snaps? </span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A Form 5 boy from that batch was killed while riding on his motorcycle one night early this year. What if he had been one of those boys who had been cursed? One of her regular curses was <i>“Aku sumpah kamu mati dilanggar lori.”</i> Such curses... they do not belong in the classrooms, what more coming from a teacher. In BM, we can sometimes be melodramatic and use phrases like <i>“Kita yang bergelar Pendidik.”</i> So what if <i>kita yang bergelar Pendidik ini menyumpah anak muridnya mati dilanggar lori</i>.... and it did indeed happen?</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 12px; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica";"><span style="font-size: 12px;">So, is it worth it??? I told her I am actually past caring about the transfer. What I may still care about is the shame that I feel because it was allowed to continue... that my former colleagues were divided along racial lines and could not stand as one to stamp out a bad behaviour. The curses of this bully teacher should be on their children too…</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What right do we teachers have ... to strut around, some with the canes or heads held high up and say... “<i>Saya cikgu</i>, you <i>kena dengar cakap saya</i>?” We lost our credibility the day we made excuses for all the things listed above….. Kids are sent to us to be shaped and moulded.. but we let them loose as damaged products. </span><br />
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For a complete picture of the incident:<br />
<a href="https://amelia7.blogspot.com/2019/02/applying-pak21-skills-smjk-keat-hwa-1.html">SMJK Keat Hwa I: Beyond the Facade of Pride 2</a><br />
<a href="https://amelia7.blogspot.com/2019/02/smjk-keat-hwa-1-kisah-guru-pembuli.html">SMJK Keat Hwa 1: Kisah Seorang Guru Pembuli</a><br />
<a href="https://amelia7.blogspot.com/2019/01/smjk-keat-hwa-beyond-facade-of-pride.html">SMJK Keat Hwa 1: Beyond the Facade of Pride 1</a><br />
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AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-45771634991371656142019-02-15T22:31:00.000+08:002019-02-16T12:46:04.948+08:00Teacher Stories..<style type="text/css">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZESmXoYUJqwlBJdlA1v_ymPGQ02sbtDysv_GW93GH6ZsC7Skn4Hp1y6I4PM6Xrl4IuCG7l2zWz8H4B5uPU3GS0MTq4lXjIl5EDFmlUg5fYZbeUjG0t5WKgg3k7E8sDIxIJMxg-eDrX0Q/s1600/51DFDC95-6A64-4A89-96F1-5E7525C70A4C.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="994" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZESmXoYUJqwlBJdlA1v_ymPGQ02sbtDysv_GW93GH6ZsC7Skn4Hp1y6I4PM6Xrl4IuCG7l2zWz8H4B5uPU3GS0MTq4lXjIl5EDFmlUg5fYZbeUjG0t5WKgg3k7E8sDIxIJMxg-eDrX0Q/s200/51DFDC95-6A64-4A89-96F1-5E7525C70A4C.jpeg" width="200" /></a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I think my teachers were a special breed. They were the know-all people. And we were lucky we had them to inspire us. ACS Sitiawan in those days was the school to be in. Small <i>kampung</i> but we'd produce not just <i>jaguh</i> <i>kampung</i> but world beaters, back in those years, when Michael Jackson's moonwalk used to be one of the crazes. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I remember Mrs. Tan Kam Thiam, the formidable Add Maths teacher. There is no Add Math question that she could not solve. Try as we did, we never did succeed in finding a question she could not do. It was only much later she told us, there is probably no question that she had not done before. You see, she'd go through any reference books that she could get her hands on and do them all. We never stood the chance of finding one she cannot do. She had done them all.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Then there was the legendary Mrs. P. She has a name but she will always be Mrs. P to us. And when we see her, we still call her that. Last year, she gifted us an avocado tree. It's still in my garden. She was not only the Discipline Mistress but a darn good Biology teacher. She is way into her 70s and she is still writing Bio books. There used to be nothing that she didn’t seem to know. Many were in awe of her. We still are. <i>Garang</i> as she was, many of us, taught or not taught by her would often still enjoy moments of conversations with her.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">There was also Mrs. Wong Tai Meng, my <i>Perdagangan</i> cum English teacher. Small and petite, many of us would look for opportunities to talk to her. I remember cycling on the road, rushing to get back for school, hoping to catch a glimpse of her on her way to school. Never mind that her glasses were really thick. We loved her for some strange reason. But she was an interesting Perdagangan and English teacher.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Mrs. Quay Beng Tiong... and her famous <i>pembetulan</i>. She was strict and firm, no nonsense. Her BM was always correct. I learned to use the language from her. Everyone of us respected her, for the teacher she was. One word - <i>tabik</i>.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">I don’t think I can recall any teacher being bad... except maybe for a primary school teacher. This was how I remembered my teachers and this is how we still talk about them even as we enter into our half a century mark. </span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">Fast forward to the present day. I am still in school but the stories are vastly different now. These are not my stories but the stories of my students...</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1">I used to keep an eye on my friend’s son in school. So, whenever I saw him at the canteen during lesson time, I would ask him why. He and his friend would sheepishly sometimes smile, and with their fingers pointing to the canteen where the teachers sit....”Our teacher is still inside there, eating.” I would later find out that the teacher, would often be late to class one period cos he would be eating in the canteen. Class time....</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Then, there was this "bag/present' teacher. Every year her students must buy her presents. Very often she will ask for bags. There are other presents I supposed. but I am not too sure. Anyway, she dictates and decides the bags that the students buy for her. She calls those gifts, the symbol of their appreciation. Do not know why ladies and their bag penchants. But then again, we have Rosmah and her famous Bijan bag.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">Another teacher goes into class. Hardly teaches but many says she used to be a good teacher. Maybe she got lazy or something but in later years, due to competition, her tuition classes dwindled somewhat. So, what she did was to fail and give low scores to the students. In a school where marks seem to mean a world to the students, many buckled and ended up in her tuitions. Not bad eh.. get paid to intimidate students to earn more. Oh ya... when it didn't suit her, students got cursed to die... again and again, the menacing woman she is. Wonder why she did that...</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">There’s this teacher who runs a tuition centre. To increase flow into the centre, there are certain seasons primed for strikes. These days PT3 exams are school based. Say what they want about it being secured, questions often find their way into the open. Very often, these teachers who run tuition centres, they are the ones who will weave their ways into convenient access of exam papers. A few intensive classes, a couple of thousand bucks richer...<span class="Apple-converted-space"> Lucrative...</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">Another teacher would often feign forgetfulness in entering classes. Or if he entered at all, he would leave shortly. Sometimes students would try to go find him and locate him in the Staff Room, laughing rambunctiously. And when they say, “Sir, your lesson still on.” His response was classic... look at the time and say, “You all go back to class first.” And he would still go MIA.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Yet another, when asked a question, the student tak paham, so asked again. The teacher uses the same method to explain. 5 <i>kali</i> you ask, 5 <i>kali</i> you get the same explanation. <i>Budak dah tak paham</i>.. teacher seemed like <i>lagi tak paham</i> cos he is on a one way track only.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> These are the 'limited-edition-imagination' teachers. How to encourage creativity if teacher <i>sendiri</i> does not exhibit creativity.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">Then there are those, who when asked a difficult question, usually it will be Math, the teacher will say, <i>"Kita letak tanda bunga</i> (or <i>bintang</i>) and we will come back to it." Next lesson, student asked the teacher about the <i>bunga</i> question. Teacher will say, <i>“Oh, saya tak tanya kawan lagi.” </i>It is repeated - oldest trick in the book. Soon students forget and that’s it. <i>Bunga</i> remains with the question, <i>layu</i> with the question dan <i>dibuang terus dari kelas. </i>So easy <i>hor</i>, to be a teacher. Dunno how to do, never mind <i>wan</i>. Just <i>senyum-senyum </i>more and be super duper nice to students, <i>beres</i> semua.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">Now for a student to get one teacher like that in a year is bad enough. But if you get 2-3, you are skewed big time. Where once tuitions used to be remedial now it replaces the actual classes. So why even go waste time in school?</span><br />
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<span class="s1">In Malaysia, many of us like to talk <i>halal</i> and <i>haram</i>. But if we go by these stories, it would be <i>ambil gaji </i>which is actually <i>tak halal.</i> Then as if that is not enough, we sugar coat our <i>kaki busuk</i> by being extra nice to the the students. We cover our shortcomings by being nice. And students who don't know any better, <i>termakan habis-habis</i>. We make them forget why they go to school. But these days, apparently<a href="https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/463966"> everything can be made kosher</a> (or halal)... just the intention baik can d... (our political leaders say so)</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1">So, what plagues our schools? Well, the answer is all in the school. In religious schools, you will get teachers who will go into excessive physical punishments. In national and (now) national-type schools, you see an erosion of dedication and commitment of what it entails to be a teacher. A country built on 100% sound moral values would most probably be impossible. But that should not be an excuse not to try to build that little utopia in this broken world. The thing is... our very fallen nature will always make us do the opposite.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-converted-space">So, how many of the above can you relate to? </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-converted-space">By the way, if you are student reading this. You should know your rights as a student. Never short change yourself by allowing your teachers to get away with not teaching y'all. Hold them accountable as teachers. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-converted-space">If you are teacher reading this. Ask yourself why you became a teacher. If you are in for the extra money from tuition or just for the easy life, then ask yourself if you would like the same to be given to your own children or grandchildren. </span></span></div>
<br />AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-20479213428647622392019-02-13T22:07:00.000+08:002019-08-06T05:14:58.726+08:00SMJK Keat Hwa: Memories of Paid Concerts On School Day Relived Just saw a promo about a concert in SMJK Keat Hwa 1. Tomorrow the school is having a paid concert during school hours. Can schools do that? Not everyone can pay the RM12 or RM18 tickets leh. Thought schools are supposed to be a place where everyone is supposed to get treated same. But they are having a paid concert.<br />
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So how can we have so many strata in the school student population for tomorrow... RM12 paying students, RM18 VIP paying students, students who didn’t buy the tickets stay in class while the ones who can pay get to sit in the multi-million air conditioned hall??? Or will those students who are not paying for the concert be given the opportunity to watch the basketball tournament which is on now.<br />
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There was a Hari Ko-Kurikulum earlier this year but not all students were allowed to participate in it. Only the AJK members were allowed to be in the Hari Kokurikulum. The rest of the students had to stay in the class cos lessons were supposed to run as usual. That is rather strange, it being a Hari Kokurilum.<br />
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Seriously, can we consider this an exploitation? Cos if you were to have this as a CNY celebration, shouldn’t it be free? Later in April or May, when they have the Hari Anugerah Cemerlang (HAC), the prize winners will get the watch another concert free. Then after the HAC, in previous years another paying concert is carried out during school hours. Tickets are sold to students to get back the money spent to prepare for the HAC. Winners get to watch free... the non prize winners HAD TO PAY.... go figure. Prize winners are already feted to adulation and praises while the common masses (read that as the ordinary students with non stellar performance) will need to pay to watch the same concert, and that will be during school hours too.<br />
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Btw, never did agree with this kind of thing cos there is supposed to be a level playing ground in schools... since I am out.. and I just saw the promo, just remembered this practice in this school.<br />
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If the purpose of tomorrow’s concert is t celebrate CNY, make it free for all... don’t take advantage or dangle ticket sales by offering students the chance to get out of class. Then when results come out and if it merosot, the admin will say macam-macam about the need for extra classes la....<br />
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Paid concert on a school day.... kids will happily be exploited. 😂😂 Dunno whether adults smart or kids dumb...AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-3569279011227445282019-02-11T22:50:00.001+08:002019-02-14T14:34:20.134+08:00SMJK Keat Hwa 1 Beyond the Facade of Pride 2<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEdOYKdlB7mRzD9WUeEt6KuAsmh_8x16uSCT_pcA6FoyhQLdRun8WcPByesUr6O4RF_uBPHtAKMjtOs-fgH7i5-0t5pnlvqLBWE1a0gLQgLkOqxvmFQR1CcrNpiIBJYxhsA-t9xqXW4sI/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEdOYKdlB7mRzD9WUeEt6KuAsmh_8x16uSCT_pcA6FoyhQLdRun8WcPByesUr6O4RF_uBPHtAKMjtOs-fgH7i5-0t5pnlvqLBWE1a0gLQgLkOqxvmFQR1CcrNpiIBJYxhsA-t9xqXW4sI/s320/images.jpg" width="240" /></a>This post is based on the article, <a href="https://amelia7.blogspot.com/2019/01/smjk-keat-hwa-beyond-facade-of-pride.html">SMJK Keat Hwa: Beyond the Facade of Pride</a> and <a href="https://amelia7.blogspot.com/2019/02/smjk-keat-hwa-1-kisah-guru-pembuli.html">SMJK Keat Hwa: Kisah Guru Pembuli </a>which I wrote a while back. After being a whistleblower about a teacher who verbally abused and used her position to intimidate students, I found myself in a spot because kids started telling me about what the teacher had done. What was I to do? Should I just brush it aside and keep quiet about it like most of the teachers had been doing?</div>
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The shocking thing was the teacher had been in the school for about 18 years, way longer than me and I do not know how long she actually has been like this. But based on hearsay, former students 27-28 years old said she was a mean teacher. If that is to be believed, then she has been at it for more than 10 years, and getting meaner.<br />
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The following is a timeline of the sequence of events which took place. Information is taken from audio recordings of meetings, incidents and telephone conversations. So, here goes... this will be a dual language post. This is kinda like a PAK21 approach in dissecting the whole incident in a timeline for analysis.<br />
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The objective of this timeline is to explore how the Principal seemed to renegade on his words and decisions over and over again.<br />
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The acronym for the teacher will be CT for class teacher, the teacher who allegedly was bullying, intimidating, etc the kids.<br />
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Tarikh</div>
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Insiden</div>
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Komen</div>
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<tr><td><span style="color: blue;"><b>24/10/18</b></span></td>
<td>Pelajar meminta pembetulan markah untuk Ujian Bulan Mac dalam Slip Keputusan kerana terdapat kesilapan. Guru Kelas (CT) meminta pelajar berjumpa Penyelia Tingkatan 5. </td>
<td>Pelajar cuba mencari Penyelia Tingkatan 5 tersebut 2 kali tetapi gagal. </td>
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<td><span style="color: blue;"><b>25/10/18</b></span></td>
<td>Pelajar memaklumkan kepada CT kegagalannya mencari guru tersebut dan telah dimarahi 'bossy', 'sombong'. PK1 dimaklumkan tentang insiden ini kerana cara dia memarahi pelajar tersebut tidak wajar. </td><td>Pelajar-pelajar lain mula menceritakan pelbagai tingkah laku lain CT seperti menyumpah, menyindir perawakan pelajar, intimidasi, bertindak keterlaluan dalam menghukum pelajar untuk kerja rumah yang tidak disiapkan.</td>
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<td><span style="color: blue;"><b>28/10/18</b></span></td><td>CT menghantar mesej WeChat kepada Ketua Kelas (KK) menyuruh pelajar tersebut berjumpanya. Satu mesej berunsur ugutan juga dihantar. Pelajar tadi berasa amat gelisah dan ketakutan. Saya telah berjumpa dengan Pengetua berkenaan mesej berkenaan.</td>
<td>PK1 juga berada di Pejabat semasa saya berjumpa dengan Pengetua. Saya telah memaklumkan kepada Pengetua, seseorang guru tidak seharusnya menghantar mesej berbentuk demikian. Apatah lagi, perkara yang mencetuskan ini berlaku kerana CT sendiri yang tidak konsisten dalam pengendalian kertas ujian/peperiksaan.</td>
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<td><span style="color: blue;"><b>30/10/18</b></span></td>
<td>Waktu pagi di kantin, saya telah berjumpa dengan PK1 di kantin. Di situ, guru lain telah bercakap panjang lebar tentang sikap pembengis CT dalam kelas.<br />
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Pada waktu rehat, Ketua Kelas memaklumkan kepada CT pelajar tersebut tidak mahu membuat pembetulan markah lagi. CT telah meluru naik ke kelas dan memarahi pelajar itu sekali lagi.<br />
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Kemudian, CT telah memarahi Ketua Kelas (KK) kerana menurutnya, KK telah menyusahkannya dengan meletakkan mesej 'ugutan' tersebut dalam WeChat kelas.</td>
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Waktu CT meluru naik ke kelas adalah sejurus selepas rehat. Waktu tersebut merupakan waktu guru lain.</td>
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<td><b><span style="color: blue;">31/10/18</span></b></td>
<td>7.10 pagi, waris pelajar menelefon Pengetua kerana pelajar (anaknya) telah menunjukkan tekanan emosi di rumah. Waris bertanya apakah tindakan seterusnya. Pengetua mengatakan beliau sedang menunggu arahan dari PPD. Pengetua meminta waris berjumpa dengannya.<br />
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7.15 pg, Pengetua masuk ke kelas dan telah bertanya kepada beberapa orang pelajar yang ada dalam kelas pada masa itu samada mereka ada apa-apa aduan tentang CT. Dalam keadaan tergesa-gesa, beliau telah meminta seorang pelajar menjadi saksi tiada aduan. Dalam situasi itu, seorang pelajar telah bangun dan mengadakan dia ada aduan.<br />
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7.20 pg, pelajar-pelajar diminta turun ke Pejabat. Barisan pentadbir lain juga telah diminta ke Pejabat. Pelajar-pelajar telah menceritakan apa yang telah dilakukan oleh CT sepanjang 2 tahun menjadi guru kelas dan sabjek mereka.<br />
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8.00 pg, perjumpaan di antara waris, Pengetua dan Barisan Pentadbir. Waris telah mengingatkan sekolah, buli secara lisan juga boleh membawa kesan yang amat negatif. Sekolah seharusnya merupakan tempat yang selamat. Waris bertanya apakah tindakan yang akan diambil.<br />
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10.40 pg, KK dan penolongnya masuk ke bilik saya. Kedua-duanya kelihatan tertekan. Mereka memaklumkan CT berada dalam kelas. Saya bertanya kepada mereka samada CT memarahi mereka. Jawapan mereka adalah ya.<br />
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10.50 -11.40 pg<br />
Kelas menjadi amat emosi. Pelajar-pelajar marah dan kebingungan kerana jaminan telah diberi oleh Pengetua dalam perjumpaan pagi. Ada pelajar-pelajar yang marah sehingga nak mencabar Pengetua. Pelajar telah mengulang semula apa yang dikatakan pagi tadi. Semasa Pengetua masuk, seorang pelajar sedang menulis dalam Buku Rekod Kehadiran dan Pengetua telah melihat perkara tersebut. <br />
12.30 tgh, Pelajar-pelajar telah meminta perjumpaan dengan CT setelah keadaan lebih terkawal. Namun sesi perjumpaan dengan CT berakhir dengan pelajar-pelajar berasa tidak puas hati dan terkilan. Dalam sesi ini, pelajar-pelajar telah berterus-terang kepada CT tindak-tanduknya yang telah menyebabkan mereka rasa terluka di hati. Pelajar-pelajar juga memohon maaf dengan harapan CT juga akan berbuat demikian. Namun CT berkata dia tidak bersedia untuk berbuat demikian.</td>
<td valign="top">Waris juga telah bertanya samada Pengetua telah berjumpa dengan pelajar-pelajar untuk mendapat gambaran yang sebenarnya.<br />
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Pelajar-pelajar lain telah berlari ke kantin memanggil rakan-rakan mereka untuk ke Pejabat Pengetua.<br />
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Pengetua telah memberi jaminan pelajar-pelajar tidak perlu bimbang dan tindakan akan diambil.<br />
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Persetujuan telah dibuat di depan waris CT tidak perlu lagi memasuki kelas memandangkan tinggal sehari lagi sahaja Cuti Belajar SPM akan bermula. Untuk hari itu, pelajar-pelajar akan ke Bilik Kaunseling untuk sesi kaunseling dengan Kaunselor sekolah semasa waktu CT.<br />
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Saya telah mengikut mereka ke kelas. CT berada dalam kelas. Saya tidak memasuki kelas, cuma berdiri di luar sahaja. Keadaan agak tegang bila CT melihat saya. Seorang Guru Kanan lalu dan saya memintanya untuk memerhatikan keadaan sementara saya turun ke Pejabat mencari Pengetua. Orang yang pertama saya temui di Pejabat ialah PK HEM dan beliau terkejut bila diberitahu pelajar diminta berada dalam kelas.<br />
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Pengetua telah mengarahkan pelajar yang berada di Bilik Kaunseling untuk kembali ke kelas mereka. Kaunselor telah menelefon Pengetua meminta penjelasan dan kaunselor diberitahu ia sememangnya arahannya.</td></tr>
<tr><td><b><span style="color: blue;">3/11/18</span></b></td>
<td>Waris telah menelefon ke PPD tentang kes tersebut. Namun dari rekod panggilan telefon tersebut, didapati pihak PPD seperti tidak ketahuan. Pegawai telah meminta sedikit masa untuk mendapat kepastian.</td>
<td>Urusan dengan pihak PPD menunjukkan cara walaupun skop tugas pegawai dinyatakan, namun cara operasi adalah amat kucar-kacir sekali.</td>
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<td><b><span style="color: blue;">4/11/18</span></b></td>
<td>Saya ditemani oleh seorang rakan dan 2 waris telah ke PPD dengan surat aduan. Kami juga menjelaskan kepada kedua pegawai di PPD kejadian yang telah berlaku. Kami diberi jaminan PPD akan membuat siasatan. </td>
<td>Pegawai PPD cuma berjumpa dengan CT. Mereka langsung tidak berjumpa dengan pelajar. Bagaimanakah keadilan akan dilaksanakan jika siasatan cuma di satu pihak sahaja?</td>
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<td><span style="color: blue;"><b>27/12/18</b></span></td>
<td>Mesyuarat Guru telah diadakan dan kami langsung tidak tahu kami bakal ditukarkan. CT tidak hadir dalam mesyuarat tersebut kerana dikhabarkan sedang bercuti di Turki.</td><td>Persoalan di sini, bolehkan guru-guru mengambil cuti pada hal tarikh mesyuarat guru telah ditetapkan awal-awal lagi? </td>
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<td><span style="color: blue;"><b>30/12/18</b></span></td>
<td>Panggilan telefon dari Pejabat Sekolah meminta kami mengambil Surat Penempatan Semula. Saya telah memaklumkan kerani saya akan mengambil surat kemudian kerana ingin membuat aduan ke KPM. Kerani itu kemudian telah berkata saya sendiri yang mencari pasal kerana kes CT marah adalah perkara yang amat kecil sahaja. Saya cuba menerangkan ia bukan perkara kecil kerana melibatkan seorang guru menyumpah pelajar untuk mati, bukan sekali tetapi hampir setiap minggu. Dia tidak percaya CT menyumpah budak.</td>
<td>Apakah yang menyebabkan kerani memberi reaksi sedemikian pada hal saya jarang berinteraksi dengannya kecuali untuk urusan rasmi sahaja?</td>
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<td><span style="color: blue;"><b>31/12/18</b></span></td>
<td valign="top">Saya telah ke JPN dan kami berjumpa dengan Pengarah. Kes kami diserahkan kepada seorang pegawai. Semua bahan telah saya serahkan kepada pegawai tersebut. Sudah lebih dari sebulan, setiap kali saya mesej pegawai tersebut, beliau tidak menjawab.<br />
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Dari perbualan juga, nampak seperti pihak PPD dan JPN 'segan' bertindak kerana SMJK Keat Hwa adalah sebuah sekolah conforming. </td>
<td valign="top">Konklusinya, seorang guru adalah bebas untuk bertindak sesuka hatinya asalkan tidak melakukan kecederaan fizikal dan mengikut apa jua arahan dari pihak atasan. Dari peringkat sekolah ke PPD sampailah ke JPN, tindakan guru menyumpah adalah sesuatu yang remeh. Guru yang melapor ditukarkan sebagai pertukaran untuk guru yang membuli untuk bertukar.<br />
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Sesuatu lagi, CT telah mesej dalam WhatsApp Sekolah dan juga WhatApp Panitia BM mengatakan dirinya telah dianiayai oleh saya. Dia telah menyebarkan mesej dalam group WhatsApp Geng Keat Hwa saya telah bercakap bohong mengatakan dia menyuruh budak mengisi Buku Rekod Kedatangan. Sebenarnya amat menghairankan tuduhannya kerana pelajar-pelajar sendiri yang menceritakan kepada Pengetua perkara ini. Satu lagi, semasa Pengetua masuk ke kelas dalam insiden 31/10/18, seorang pelajarnya sedang menulis dalam Buku Rekod Kedatangan. CT telah melenting mungkin kerana telah dinasihati oleh Pengetua, namun dia seolah-olah tidak boleh menerima teguran dan telah menggunakan platform WhatsApp Geng Keat Hwa untuk menyebar pelbagai versinya sendiri dan juga mendapat sokongan dari rakan gurunya yang lain.</td>
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Timelining... that's something that I picked up from teaching history. I found that when we are able to put things in their places in a timeline, we will be able to infer and make many conclusions, and see the bigger picture. Most of the time, when we look at events/incidents in isolation and only have hearsay(s) as our source, things become muddled up. Doubt and falsehood creep in. In this case, there are audio recordings and screenshots of messages to fall back on for more details.<br />
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There are many inferences that can be made from the timeline. There are many questions which can be asked. One of them is the inconsistencies in the Principal's way of dealing with things and the words he say. For example, the parent calling him on 31/10/18 to ask him what the school was going to do. There is a recording of the conversation and it is interesting to note that he said that he had informed the PPD and was awaiting them to instruct him what do. So what does a Principal actually do at school?<br />
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Also, when the parent called the PPD on 3/11/18, the records seem to show that the PPD seemed to be in the dark. A call later, the certainty of the PPD in the know seemed still not to be there.<br />
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In the subsequent meeting between the parent and Principal (and admin), a decision was reached that the students need not see the teachers again. Again the Principal renegaded on his words and sent the students back to their class. The incident after that was one which would have been avoided had he just kept to the decision made.<br />
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So many decisions were made, and so many promises made too... all broken by the same man who made them. It seems that he will change his mind like the wind. Whoever is doing the blowing, he will oblige.<br />
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The lie that makes a man shapes the institution that he leads. And that institution is SMJK Keat Hwa 1, shaped after the image of this Principal. Words are but like clanging cymbals in this institution. Autocracy, patronage, favouritism, fear, racism..... are schools now the breeding grounds of these? If so, then we will be going the way of Zimbabwe, Venezuela.... and by then, most of us will not be spared....AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-72322098455540802362019-02-09T20:06:00.002+08:002019-08-06T05:43:23.535+08:00PAK21 - Where do we go from here?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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There is so much talk going on about PAK21 or Pembelajaran Abad Ke-21. As usual, when there is something new, changes are expected. It was the same with the implementation of PPSMI in 2003 which was then reversed in 2012. I think 2020 marks the last batch of PPSMI for those schools still teaching Math and Science in English. Soon after we had our MBMBI and then the DUAL Program. All in all, our Malaysian education is generally in a very confused state, having gone through many flip flops over the years. This flip-flopping is also a reflection of our nation's inability to grab the bull by its horn and move forward. </div>
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But, now, with the Industrial Revolution 4.0's effects knocking on our shores, we basically do not have much choice but to bring in changes into our education system. Else we will be gobbled up by the waves of changes. While PPSMI is dead, there is the DUAL Program. In essence it is the same thing like PPSMI, only difference being not all schools are carrying it out. And so, there we have it, instead of our education system uniting and providing an equal platform, we now continue to build another new divide between the haves and the haves-not. </div>
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In all this confusion, enters the PAK21. To me this is more of a pedagogical change rather than a systemic one. PAK21 is to prepare us for the challenges of this century. The challenges to come are going to be way different, so they say. Reason is because we will be up against machine learning. AI is going to change the way things work it. Changes are now happening at a dizzying pace and catching up comes with a whole new set of catch phrases these days.</div>
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And so, you have teachers the most confused lot as usual. Some are attaching PAK21 to gadgets. I think that is a mistake. Some are saying that we are already doing PAK21 and there is no need for fancy gadgets because most schools don't have them. They are wrong too, I believe. Yup, there is no need for fancy gadgets but I think gadgets like projectors (or smart tv screens) and tablets/computers should be making their way into the classrooms.</div>
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So what is this PAK21? PAK21 is about the skills that we need to get our students to have before they enter the job market, so that they can be the engine of growth to our country's economy.</div>
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And so what are those skills that they need? The usual list will include critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, leadership, initiative, productivity and social skills. What many sometimes forget are the following: media literacy, technology literacy, information literacy and flexibility. I might have missed out a few others. These are the other skills that we need to catch up with the world. Digitalisation has entered our lives and it has entered big time. And it is changing the landscape of jobs.</div>
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However, the point is this. For those who insist that PAK21 can go on without the gadgets, they are wrong. The workplaces of this century has changed. Computer literacy is a must these days and an educational institution fails if it cannot incorporate that into its classrooms. Computer literacy is necessary for media, information and technology literacy. And the latter are required so that the flexibility to adapt to the constant changes around us will be functional. But the gadgets and tools are just a part of the PAK21, a smaller part.</div>
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The bigger or more important part remains the skills - critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, etc. To train that is the main challenge because for that to take place we need people who can show the way to the students. Those would be the teachers. </div>
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The bigger question would be this. Are the teachers able to cope?</div>
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In today's fast changing landscape, a teacher who teaches from the textbook is archaic. A teacher who does not have the linguistic skills (read that as English, in Malaysia) is also a <i>katak di bawah tempurung</i> because that teacher will find it hard to relate to many things as Malaysia cannot seem to churn out enough materials of substance in BM. Also, a teacher who doesn't read is also ineffective because things are constantly evolving. </div>
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Teacher quality will remain the greatest challenge in the success of PAK21 and we have an uphill task because for a long time, many of those who entered the teaching profession in Malaysia, especially from the late 1990s to the early 2000s were basically those who could not find employment elsewhere. The teaching profession became a haven of refuge for many of these people... correct me if I am wrong. Over the years many have been comfortably entrenched... </div>
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Many of our teachers have been conditioned by our exam oriented system too.Many teachers today are unable to bring the world into the the classroom because they, themselves don't read. Their comfort zones are so wide that many happily exist like the proverbial ostriches with their heads in the sand. Many teach without inspiring. All they aim for is just the A(s). Students are no longer challenge to think for themselves. Tuition classes prep students to answer exam type questions so much so that simple 'thinking questions' often baffle them. All you need to do is just take a look at the quality of answers of our students for the why and how questions and it will be painfully glaring how our students don't seem to be able to think much these days. </div>
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Those who can be pushed continue to score the A(s) but many leave without the necessary skills. Those who cannot be pushed get bored to death in class and these become the lost numbers in our system. This group is getting bigger because they see no relevance in the lessons carried out in the classrooms. Relevance... most teachers are finding it hard to relate relevance to what is taught in class and it is boring kids to death.</div>
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So, PAK21. If we are serious about maintaining our place even just in Southeast Asia and not have 'newcomers' like Vietnam leapfrogging us, we really have to look seriously into proper allocation for equipment procurement and teacher training and continuous professional development.</div>
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My two sen for today... </div>
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<br />AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-5570091473983115322019-02-07T10:14:00.000+08:002019-02-07T11:03:41.525+08:00SMJK Keat Hwa 1... Stories Graduating Batch 2014/18. 2017/18<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Every year since 2016, when I was given the task to see to the presentations for the Graduation Ceremony of the Fifth and Sixth Formers, I'd try to come out with something memorable.... With the help of a colleague who believed as strongly that it can be a very good thing for the kids (to remember the school by) and also to include those kids who do not take Chinese and are not allowed to attend the graduation ceremony, we would spend a lot of our free time working on this. Much time is required to search for the suitable shots. Over the years we developed the discipline of meticulously filing up our videos and photos. Then there would be the countless hours of editing. Then coming out with the story... that requires inspiration and a feel for what gives it a good feel. Though sometimes we’d whine as we worked on it, the looks on the faces of the students never failed to make us forget all that. </div>
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The first of such videos started in 2016 when I was tasked for the first time to prepare the presentations. I decided to make an extra video from the school dedicated to the graduating kids, blessing them and wishing them the best as they move on in their lives because I truly believed then that if a school does its job well, the students will rise above the bar.... just as my alma mater had done for me. I will always remember the dedication of my teachers which inspired and made me feel that they cared enough. That was the legacy that I had been given and when I decided to be a teacher, that was the legacy I felt should be passed on. </div>
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The joke was, being a Chinese school, everything was very mechanical, structured and a practice run must be done for every event. The Discipline Master, Mr. Lim originally insisted that the video be shown so that the kids do not talk or misbehave during the graduation ceremony. I had a hard time convincing him that if the videos/presentations were meaningful and relevant to them, they would respond in kind. There was no need to show them.</div>
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Suffice to say, on that day, the kids were more focused on the screen than being disruptive. Meaning... I learned a long time ago that when you are able to to give meaning, the responses will always be positive. The problem with many of us today is we do things without much thought. We just want to complete a task more to satisfy our conscience than anything. And that is why there is so much brokenness. We have lost much of our community spirit in that sense. </div>
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This video is more poignant for one reason. I would be part of the story because I would leave the school too, though I did not know it at that time. However, the circumstances in which I was made to leave left a very bad taste in the mouth as well as a deep disappointment in the system that I am in... in that I had been let down even though I stood up for the kids over a teacher who verbally abused kids and used her position to intimidate the students. Till this day, I cannot understand why a teacher needs to show that kind of 'power' over her students. And to make it worse, the Principal, 'the man in black in the video" had no courage to do the right thing. </div>
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So this particular video will have meaning in part that both of us (my colleague and I) are part of the stories. Because in the ordinary, I discovered gems of extraordinary in those of our students. Many of my own former and some, whom I did not teach reached out to me and made our story even more extraordinary and hopeful. We found the extraordinary in the courage shown by students to voice their support and anger at what they perceived as injustice. We found comfort from those who messaged us privately to express their thanks. These will be among the stories that we will bring with us... and this is also why I will continue to plod on.</div>
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And a special word of thanks to Lim Chun Ming and Ahh Jie (Ah Black... and dunno what other nicknames he has ... 8)) For the last few years of working together... these kids were at this since they were in F3. </div>
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Apologies for abrupt ending of the music... I was working on it from my iPad and there seemed not to be a fade off function... so the music got chopped... Had to remove the original music scores due to copyright issues. So, I had to change it...</div>
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As to the graduating batches, may each of you find your place in life... The best is always yet to come if we work towards that... </div>
<br />AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-2982947157541553152019-02-04T22:43:00.001+08:002019-08-06T05:40:10.099+08:00SMJK KEAT HWA 1 - Kisah Guru Pembuli<style type="text/css">
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<span class="s1">Seorang guru (dan seorang lagi rakan guru yang memberi sokongan moral) memberi tekanan kepada pengetua untuk melakukan sesuatu agar tindakan seorang guru pembuli dihentikan. Namun, entah apa yang berlaku, guru pembuli pula mendakwa dirinya difitnah oleh guru tesebut. Guru pembuli tersebut kemudiannya juga mendakwa dirinya telah meminta untuk ditukarkan antara sebabnya, kerana fitnah tersebut. Namun kedua-dua guru yang cuba melindungi pelajar-pelajar daripada dibuli secara berterusan telah ditukarkan ke sekolah lain. </span><br />
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<span class="s1"><b>Persoalannya</b>:</span><br />
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<li>Adakah pertukaran mereka sesuatu yang wajar? Seorang merupakan guru BI/Sej dan seorang lagi merupakan guru BM/Sej. Ketiga-tiga sabjek tidak mengalami lebihan guru. Malahan untuk Sejarah, berlaku kekurangan. </li>
<li>Adakah Pengetua telah meyalahgunakan kedudukannya untuk menukarkan guru kerana memberi tekanan kepadanya untuk menghentikan tindakan membeli ?</li>
<li>Pengetua kemudiannya telah menyebarkan khabar kononnya kedua-dua guru itu telah meminta untuk ditukarkan. Mengapakah Pengetua telah berbohong tentang pertukaran kedua-dua guru tersebut?</li>
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<span class="s1">Ini merupakan poster yang telah ditampalkan di setiap kelas selepas satu perhimpunan khas untuk memberi kesedaran tentang kes buli di sekolah pada away tahun ini.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4VRVOTqJSnLU9XNa_HbZWxCMXPfXisRjPStLU2xtD7QVMRZhBtxWRktPSjHp2NV26IpXORSvOukmrxD6Wd1UO3TzlSW4ySuj6LhhAOuBopGvuHC0uxLYa-ma10QVZ8gGIVpwDNGpRXgk/s1600/Buli.JPEG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1121" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4VRVOTqJSnLU9XNa_HbZWxCMXPfXisRjPStLU2xtD7QVMRZhBtxWRktPSjHp2NV26IpXORSvOukmrxD6Wd1UO3TzlSW4ySuj6LhhAOuBopGvuHC0uxLYa-ma10QVZ8gGIVpwDNGpRXgk/s400/Buli.JPEG" width="280" /></a><span class="s1">Kebiasaannya, apabila terdapat sesuatu isu yang ingin diketengahkan atau kempen yang ingin dilancarkan oleh Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (KPM) Perhimpunan Sekolah akan menjadi tempat untuk ia diwara-warakan.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> Poster ini diperolehi dari salah sebuah sekolah yang mana pelajar-pelajar telah diberi penjelasan yang panjang lebar tentang isu membuli. Di SMJK Keat Hwa 1, setakat ini, tidak pasti samada ia telah dilakukan dalam Perhimpunan Mingguannya.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Namun poster ini cuma mengandungi maklumat tentang buli di antara pelajar sahaja. Poster memberi rujukan atau tempat aduan untuk mangsa sebagai rakan, guru/guru kaunseling dan ibu bapa.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Sekolah ialah tempat di mana seseorang pelajar menghabiskan masa yang amat panjang. Oleh itu, keselamatan persekitarannya amat penting. Yang memegang amanah memelihara kesejahteraan pelajar ialah para guru dan Pengetua merupakan orang yang dipertanggungjawabkan secara keseluruhan.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Berita tentang guru membuli pelajar jarang dijumpai dalam media massa. Yang didapati kebanyakannya adalah berkenaan dengan isu guru hilang kawalan terhadap emosi atau situasi dan bertindak keterlaluan seperti menampar atau merotan tanpa kawalan. Ini kerana pembuli biasanya merupakan seorang yang boleh membawa kemudaratan fizikal dan mental yang berpanjangan.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Buli oleh guru adalah sukar diterima dan dipercayai kerana guru ialah seorang yang dihormati dan dipercayai oleh masyarakat. Jadi siapakah itu guru pembuli? Kebiasaannya, guru pembuli juga akan menunjukkan sikap-sikap yang tertentu. Sikap pertama yang nyata merupakan sifat pembengis tertentu terhadap kelompok yang tertentu. Kebengisan mereka dapat dilihat dari cara percakapan mereka seperti nada. Ia juga boleh dilihat daripada frasa-frasa yang digunakan. Mereka ini biasanya cuba menonjolkan diri, misalnya menerusi pakaian atau barang kemas yang keterlaluan. Mereka ini juga mempunyai kepetahan bercakap yang seringkali digunakan untuk menjauhkan diri mereka<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>daripada tuduhan. Kebolehan mereka bermain dengan kata-kata sering menyebabkan orang di sekitar mereka mempercayai mereka secara taksub. Pembuli merupakan seorang yang tidak boleh ditegur kerana sentiasa beranggapan merekalah yang betul.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Seorang guru pembuli di sekolah menengah biasanya membuli dengan menggunakan kata-kata yang akan mewujudkan penyiksaan mental dalam pelajar. Ia juga akan meninggalkan kesan psikologi dan emosi ke atas pelajar-pelajar. Di sekolah rendah, ia mungkin melibatkan buli fizikal.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Persoalan di sini, apakah yang seharusnya dilakukan jika pembuli merupakan seorang guru. Di sekolah, guru merupakan seorang yang mempunyai banyak kuasa terhadap anak murid mereka, terutama sekali jika pelajar-pelajar sekolah amat mementingkan markah mereka. Jika guru kelas pula, gred kelakuan boleh dijadikan satu bentuk ugutan. Ini kerana gred yang buruk mempunyai implikasi yang berpanjangan ke atas seorang pelajar.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Dan jika guru merupakan pembuli, siapakah yang seharusnya melindungi anak murid yang menjadi mangsa? Adakah menjadi tanggungjawab guru lain atau para pentadbir atau pengetua? Apakah yang harus dilakukan untuk melindungi para pelajar?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Tujuan artikel ini dan juga artikel-artikel yang akan datang adalah untuk menunjukkan bagaimana kepincangan dalam pengurusan oleh seseorang pengetua membawa kepada pertukaran guru-guru yang bertindak memberi tekanan kepadanya untuk mengambil tindakan membanteras amalan membuli oleh seorang guru pembuli di SMJK Keat Hwa 1, Jln Kuala Kedah.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Tindakan yang tegas dan semerta seharusnya boleh menghentikan amalan tersebut dan mewujudkan persekitaran yang selamat semula. Namun, tindakan-tindakan yang diambil (atau tidak diambil) telah menyebabkan keadaan menjadi melarat.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Oh ya! KPM mencanangkan pelancaran Program Ziarah Cakna. Apa gunanya program ziarah ini jika pihak sekolah tidak dapat menjamin keselamatan mental yang cakna di sekolah? Dan ziarah yang dilakukan oleh seorang guru pembuli?</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><a href="https://amelia7.blogspot.com/2019/01/smjk-keat-hwa-beyond-facade-of-pride.html">SMJK KEAT HWA... BEYOND THE FACADE OF PRIDE</a></span></div>
<br />AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-15412828295514315252019-01-29T15:40:00.002+08:002019-02-13T11:21:25.897+08:00SMJK KEAT HWA... Beyond the Facade of Pride<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After 2 days of picking up a tirade of sorts because I find it hard to comprehend the need for a certain character (which is the Principal, Wong Ghee Hong) to keep justifying his act by lying. I think it’s time to just lay bare the facts that led to the need for the tirades. This piece is about bullying and it took place in SMJK Keat Hwa 1, Jalan Kuala Kedah, Alor Setar, Kedah. The bully was a teacher. A result of this was I was one of 2 teachers who were transferred out by the Principal because he did not like the way my colleague and I were pushing him to resolve the matter. The bullying took place in the form of verbal assaults and also abuse of position as class teacher to intimidate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Bullying in school. We often read about bullying. Almost 80% of bully cases takes place in schools according to studies. And bullying usually involves students and students. In a school it should not involve teachers. And so if bullying involves a teacher, should we then be alarmed? For me, I think it is something dead serious and should be dealt with decisiveness because teachers are supposed to be the guardians of their charges. Kids go to school not to be bullied by the very people who are supposed to watch over them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We do read of teachers who slap or cane kids overzealously. But there is another type of bullying which is hard to prove... verbal assaults which often lead to effects which cannot be instantly gauged - it is hard to see the effects of mental torture and emotional damage. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In October last year, a student complained that her teacher berated her in class over a misprint in her report card. A report was made to the PK. Who was to know that a can of worms with this teacher who was actually known for her <i>pembengis</i> nature would be opened? The PK talked to her about the complaint and she went ballistic. A message with a threatening tone was sent by the teacher to the class monitor. And if that was not enough, when the student did not want to make any more changes to her marks, she went charging up the class... and went ballistic again. Apparently not going to see her was tantamount to something....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>And then other students started spilling the beans. From cursing them to “lompat mati”, ‘mati dilanggar lori” to even invoking the name of God to fail them in their BM (SPM), so many other stories came out. Among other allegations included the mishandling of school magazine and PIBG money (which the school was well aware of), students being given really low marks for their Lisan BM (SPM), students given low marks which they claimed were not true reflection of what were supposed to be, to her being on her mobile most of the time in class to failing student because she had an issue with him. It is just incredible that a teacher can do so much (or so little) and get away with them. The list also goes on to include she making use of her class monitor to do most of her paper work. Students were generally fearful of her because she was their teacher and had to power to give them poor <i>Kelakuan</i> grades which would be in their <i>Sijil Berhenti Sekolah.</i> These allegations came out in a hastily arranged meeting between the <i>Pengetua</i> and the students after a parent called him and asked him if he had talked to the students regarding the complaints about the teacher. In this hastily called meeting, the Principal gave his word to them that he would do something about their complaints. Mind you all these took place over a period of 2 YEARS!!! Can you imagine that the cursing was taking place so regularly? What on earth is wrong with the teacher?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Her meanness was real and students feared her. So, if students actually air such grievances to the school admin, what should have been done? The parent who had called earlier in the morning had a meeting with the <i>Pengetua</i> and the rest of the admin after that hastily arranged meeting. A decision was made by the <i>Pengetua</i> in the presence of the rest of the admin that the students needed not see the teacher again as their SPM study break was coming. And that was supposed to be the end of the matter, or so we thought.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yet on the same day after seeing the parent and giving the assurance that the students will be separated from the teacher bully, the Principal, sent the kids who were already in the counsellor’s room (supposedly sent there for a counselling session during that teacher’s period) back to her class. Why he did that defied logic but apparently he talked to the teacher bully and the latter assured him that she was a reformed person. All hell broke loose that day. There was a scene in the class as students turned bitter and emotional over a broken promise of not needing to see the teacher again. Relief turned into despair. There is also a recording of this incident which lasted about 45 minutes. Like chickens, the kids were sent back to be slaughtered by the <i>Pengetua</i>.... and they did get slaughtered...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Kids being kids.. they still tried to right things and so as things calmed somewhat, they wanted to seek a resolution. So another meeting was arranged between 2 representatives and the teacher... In our supposedly <i>bermaaf-maafan </i>culture, I guessed the kids were hoping that the teacher will at least say sorry. The kids did... but they walked away feeling more frustrated because the teacher did not. The conversation should make us sick cos racial and religious sentiments were used to try to gain an upper hand... (there is a recording as well)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There were a few more incidents... but the question remains. Should teachers be allowed to bully their will through... In this case, the teacher bully became emboldened over the years. Some investigative work was carried out into her past... an abusive growing-up environment, a teacher remembered after almost 2 decades later by former colleagues as being a <i>pembengis</i>... how did we let such people become teachers of our younger generation...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And so the two teachers kept pressuring the school... because the kids were genuinely afraid and worried that the teacher bully will take it out on their younger siblings. Why kids actually fear that, we should actually wonder. However, the pressuring resulted in the 2 teachers to be transferred. 2 teachers who have not taken any MCs for 4 years, and have contributed much to the school... If the Pengetua really cannot stand them for standing up for the kids, it is really his prerogative to do as he pleases. Yet the <i>Pengetua</i> kept coming up with different versions regarding their transfers. Wonder why? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Meanwhile, the teacher bully sent out 2 WhatsApp messages (screenshots of her messages are available btw) that she applied to transfer out, and that she was maliciously framed by a teacher (there are screenshots available too where she swore by God that she did not ask the class monitor to do her register... and the kids telling the Pengetua that she did that.) One can just compare the teacher bully's whines about being framed to what the students said and how she weaved her way out of accusations in the recordings too... But Wong Ghee Hong chose to close an eye to all her deplorable actions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">If an attempt were to be made to dissect the audio records of telephone conversations, in the class and office sessions, conversations with the PPD officers, WhatsApp messages ... it should sicken us because it really points to a broken system. And the system is broken right up to the JPN. It is broken because the people entrusted to be the guardians of the institutions have failed... They failed because of incompetence, their inability to rise above sentiments and fear. We should weep for Malaysia because in schools like SMJK Keat Hwa 1 which is supposed to produce scores of students with strings of A(s) every year, such things still happen. Conforming school it is.. conforming to a broken system perpetuated by myopic leaders who see only themselves, to the point that when kids took to the social media because they were unhappy, the school clamped down on them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dealing with the problem of a teacher bully. A word of caution to her would be a good start. If ignored... then a show cause letter would have sufficed. Yet, a <i>Pengetua</i> who cannot be a <i>Ketua</i>. You have a <i>Pengetua</i> who wants only to look good but lacks the competency and courage to do the right thing..... and his name is Wong Ghee Hong.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A few years ago, I laughed when students pointed out to the teachers that the then PK 1 (Wong Ghee Hong) was called 跟屁虫. Well, I thought all of us have our own way of doing things. Maybe that’s how he felt he should be to get up there... after all, that the system of patronage is as old as our culture. But now I understand why the kids called him that too... worms don’t have a spine. They are always wriggling their ways into and out of situation. Funny how kids are able to see clearer about a person's character than us, adults.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So, should this give me pleasure because I want to get back at him?? The answer is no. And it is for a simple reason. What future is there for our schools if we cannot take the right actions for our next generation to model on? What use is it to call him spineless when what he is basically is what we all have become? I talked to a Board Member of the school recently and I could see that he was trying so hard to believe what the <i>Pengetua</i> said about the transfers of the 2 teachers. What good is the Board of Directors who cannot see that the school has a <i>Pengetua</i> who seems to be consistent only in doing one thing... and that is LYING? Yet maybe, they want him like that too because he will be easier to control. The PIBG too.... <i>Persatuan Ibu Bapa dan Guru</i>... The <i>Ibu Bapa </i>failed to defend the teachers who defended their kids... So, who in future will speak out for their children, then?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And to make it kinda melodramatic some more.. I bumped into some of my former students today too. They told me this... “KH1 is no longer our school.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">KH1 is no longer their school... I guess the school doesn’t need their help in the future too... We forget. For most government aided schools, public contribution is what enables the schools to have better facilities for the children. Our current students are our future contributors. But more importantly, the school is where we should inculcate good values in our future generation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Oh ya disclaimer clause... all the allegations written in this post are gleaned from recordings done during the actual incidents. I supposed I can make them public too if there are requests... the audio recordings but they are a chore to plough through.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One more thing, I have enough MATERIALS (audio recordings, WhatsApp screenshots, letters from parents and students, written accounts, timeline, reports) for this incident which happened in SMJK Keat Hwa 1, Jln Kuala Kedah. And I even went to the JPN... still waiting after a month.... is there any hope for our educational institutions? Is there any hope for Malaysia?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I did a quick Google about teacher bullying. There is not much literature because evidence is so hard to compile. The stuff that I have, it might make a good thesis material or even case study about bullying by teachers in a Malaysian school. It will leave us wondering too why and how the admin seem so inadequate in handling a grave issue like this. It should also make us cringe at out inability to act decisively once race and religion are brought into defence. It should also make us reflect about the values that we really want to uphold and pass on to our younger generation. I trusted the system to do the right thing.. when it failed, I thought it would protect me even if I keep pushing. I am so wrong. The system is beyond repair......???? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And the KPM is talking about <i>ziarah cakna </i>... what good will that be if students can't be kept safe from the very people who are supposed to educate them.... </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">.... but there will be more articles coming out...</span></div>
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AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-75840796535383841572019-01-29T15:25:00.000+08:002019-01-29T15:25:49.748+08:00When A School Head is IncompetentThe story continues... it would have probably died if not for 跟屁虫 the liar... wonder why he keeps lying. Being the successful butt polisher, 跟屁虫’s objektif tercapai...Pengetua. There is another story here too cos after he achieved his objective, he discarded the man who believed him and helped him get to his chair.<br />
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Last year he sent out 2 teachers because one of the teachers kept pressuring him to do something about a bully teacher. Yup! A very famous bully teacher existed in the school. She used to cursed students to go lompat mati from buildings, and also sumpah them to die dilanggar lori. Her meanness didn’t stop there. If accounts of students are to be believed, it is horrifying that such teachers are allowed to keep doing that. That teacher went on her own ganging up support blitz... haih! So, despite a meeting involving the top admin where the students poured out their grievances, everything was swept under the carpet.<br />
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跟屁虫‘s lying nature is at his best in the aftermath after he sent those 2 teachers out. A deal must have been struck with that bully teacher cos that bully teacher put up messages in the school’s WhatsApp group as well as her Panitia WhatsApp reiterating that she applied out. Dunno why she must made that known to everyone. Then she also thanked 跟屁虫and 跟屁虫‘s Big Momma for their advice, patience and understanding. It is really amazing how kind they were to this bully teacher... The moral of this story here for all teachers is, according to 跟屁虫‘s philosophy, if a teacher has this urge to bully, by all means go all out and bully. In a conforming school, students got no voice. So if teachers feel they want to go giler... it is fine. He as the Principal will protect the teacher and provide all the necessary advice.... he will find carpets to sweep them under. 😂Actually, he does that cos he doesn’t like mah fan.<br />
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But that story above will be continued another day. Now, the amazing lies that 跟屁虫is capable of. Soon after students found out, a few students took to the social media and ranted. Funny how harsh 跟屁虫 and his band of Pak (Mak)Turut(s) can be. If we go by the way he handled the teacher bully, he should be totally accepting and understanding of the students rants. After all, bad behaviour?? Small matter nia. It should be allowed just as the teacher bully was allowed to do all kinds of mean things to student and then considered as biasa... boleh diterima. But, the poor student was hauled up, even the police was used to intimidate that poor kid.... And the kid wasn’t even showing bad behavior. Poor use of language maybe but basically she was just voicing an opinion. That’s supposed to be a good thing. Supposed a PAK21 desired skill. And 跟屁虫 told the kid, he tried to explain to the two teachers who were transferred out. But those 2 teachers turned their backs and did not want to listen to him. LIE NUMBER ONE<br />
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Next, 跟屁虫 talked to a teacher in the school... He told this teacher, let’s called her Pn M. He said the the 2 teachers are really good teachers, very hardworking. He and his big Momma assistant were very shocked when they received their letters of transfer. He told Pn M, maybe the 3 of them after discussing with the PPD, the two teachers also decided to transfer. Lol! This 跟屁虫 really good at spinning stories... the worm that he is... memang sah. LIE NUMBER TWO<br />
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The spins keep coming... 跟屁虫 is an incorrigible liar. He continues to spread the word around... he goes round and tells another teacher... almost the same thing.. it is actually none of his business. He claimed that the two teachers applied to transfer out. And that the 2 teachers and the bully teacher discussed with the PPD and all agreed to transfer out. WEI... he got otak in between his ears onot??? Lying is in his DNA. The two teachers never asked for transfer. LIE NUMBER THREE<br />
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Now.. let’s have some real story. The two teachers were damn mad at 跟屁虫 and went to see him. But earlier they had been told by the office to collect their letters of transfer from the clerk. They insisted on seeing him. He had no choice but to see them. Now for some truth...This was what happened actually. When the teachers walked in, he sat at his chair, madness that seemed to be reeking from his eyes. The two teachers tried to ask him the reason for the transfers and the response was most the CACAT ever... He went on and on like a dead broken record why it was not his business... at one one point he said, “Who are you to question me?” At no given point was there any civil discussion... The man who sat in front... behaved as though he was worming his way out of a tight situation (he must have had a hand in) like a spoilt brat.... And at one point, he asked to office boy to show the teachers out of his office.... THERE YOU HAVE IT... this same worm who went round telling other teachers how shocked he was to know of the transfers... etc, etc... He was lying and lying and lying.<br />
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To be able to sit in the chair of a Pengetua by being a 跟屁虫... well, I think it can still be quite accepted though he makes a good joke... but to be a 跟屁虫 and want to sit in the high chair but use lies to cover up ... well... I guess we can all now learn many things from him. Oh ya! the message for the teachers... if you see a kid being bullied, or beaten up by a mad teacher... do nothing. Cos if you cannot tahan seeing that, and keep pushing... you get punished. So, better practice the 5Ks (Ka Ki Ko Ka Ki). There is another interesting story on this NONE OF MY BUSINESS angle... and it should make parents squirm that a school can be so callous about their children’s safety...<br />
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For one, it should be okay for students and teachers to lie their way through to anything cos that is his signature style... Oh ya... a student told me that he has another moniker.., WongWong....<br />
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KEPIMPINAN MELALUI TELADAN... Semua sila ikut contoh 跟屁虫. Hidup 跟屁虫!!!! From now on, that should be the motto of the school... Falsafah 跟屁虫. 😂🤣😂<br />
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Oh ya! Hope karma goes one circle and land on their children and grandchildren... at least I’m not cursing here.... but maybe WongWong is saying that everyone who has an issue with him should ... ???<br />
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This is from an earlier post...AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-32610422484334344752019-01-29T15:21:00.000+08:002019-08-07T21:52:44.563+08:00跟屁虫This is going to be a first for me... a title in Mandarin. 😂 Been a rather interesting month. Got transferred out of my school because apparently I must have pushed the Principal too much to do something about a colleague who was verbally bullying the students. Yup! Even in ‘famous’ schools like SMJK Keat Hwa 1, such things happen. And the Principal seemed powerless to do anything to stop it. So, here goes...<br />
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跟屁虫 is a character who works in a school. It is a well-known school in one of the northern states. He has a real name like all of us but for now, the name 跟屁虫 will do. This moniker was given by students who were so used to seeing him follow the school principal around...<br />
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His name has very significant meanings. He is a very good bag carrier and an exceedingly good follower. His greatest talent is stooping to every conceivable level, including grovelling when he feels that will get him to the top.<br />
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跟屁虫 is the best kind of follower one can ever have because he will stop at nothing to stoke your ego. He learned from a young age that everyone loves their egos stoked. And he is the master ‘stoker’. 😂🤣<br />
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Well, such people who have no principles, lie through their teeth, tongue and and whatever orifices of theirs. After all, butt polishing is their talent, sweet talking is their modus operandi... and lies... 跟屁虫 is the master, unsurpassed...<br />
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You see, 跟屁虫 is living proof that you don’t have to be honest or principled to get to the top... and you can continue like this at the top.AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-67109927813802096202018-08-08T16:40:00.003+08:002018-08-08T16:40:54.207+08:00So they say it is a new dawn...May 9th came and went, and they say it is a new dawn for Malaysia. Is it? I guess in some way it is. A new gavornment after 60 plus years. Never thought it would happen in my lifetime. After my whole life of living under an affirmative action hijacked by racial issue, it is a welcomed change, and perhaps with it, a little more hope of a better Malaysia.<br />
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Yet in the truest sense a lot of things still remain the same. Change, some say, will need to take time. I guess no one can deny that. But then again, we live in heady times. Technology is rapidly changing us. Things are moving at dizzying speeds. And perhaps with that sort of speed, maybe change will speed up too.<br />
<br />
I think there many displaced people from the current change. Like me who have grown old under ‘affimative action hijacked’ they too are affected. For those on the other side of the divide, and in Malaysia the divide separates us into Bumi and non-Bumi. Within the Bumi side, there is the Malay and Others; Muslim and non-Muslim too. So imagine, for them too, having grown ‘old’ and being told that they were the ones needing the help; it is a time of feeling lost too.<br />
<br />
It always strikes me as funny that we always claim how compassionate the God we believe in is. Yet when it comes to living out our faiths, how often too we become the ‘oppressors’. How we dress, what we eat, what we say..these remain the areas that are being harped on. I’ve come to a conclusion that for raee relations to work, we need to take out religion from the equation. Religion is divisive; not because it teaches us to be that. It is divisive because the believers are humans who want those carnal things ... power, wealth and status.<br />
<br />
But, I still look forward to the hope of better things to come.AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-45737239741993131492018-05-06T21:32:00.001+08:002019-02-16T23:19:29.652+08:00Die, die also hers....It is mind boggling how selfish we can be at times these days... especially when it involves kids.<br />
<br />
I recently helped a friend's kid figured out a concept for a Science competition. The way I ended up helping her was actually rather crazy. Her Science teacher had threatened them to deduct marks from their monthly test if they did not complete the project for this competition, which was to come up with an idea or concept that is workable based on the United Nation's Envision 2030 plan. Basically it was a vision with 17 goals to transform the world, with sustainability at the core of its vision.<br />
<br />
The purpose of the competition was to identify kids with talent to be discovered, our future engineers and scientists so to say. It is a good competition, I would say. Students had to come up with an idea that meets the Envision 2030 goals and produce a video as well. However, this is where things went wrong. The threat of mark deduction was really effective in getting to students to produce something. The teacher only wanted them to produce a video and upload it. They were to put her name as their mentor. Somebody was on her back and she wanted to show that she could... minus all the work, of course. These days, many teachers work on the premise that students are capable of doing everything themselves.... makes me wonder why they even need teachers then?<br />
<br />
Well, my friend's kid was flustered. And so she asked me for help. I tried to give some pointers but a week later and still clueless, the kid was even more flustered. And with the school hols coming to an end, the sense of urgency increased. So, with all that, I sat down and typed out an idea for sustainability of city living, complete with the script. What the kid needed to do was just to put it down in video, which she did. In the process, she learned quite a bit about the subject matter and video making too... and so the video got uploaded, just as her classmates. Marks saved.....<br />
<br />
Or so that's what we thought... until the results came out. Her work got shortlisted... Was it supposed to be a big deal? It was the only one from the state that got into the list. One of 15 nationwide and her teacher provided no guidance, no comments or anything whatsoever.<br />
<br />
This where the whole thing becomes a joke... teachers idea (you could call that guidance, I supposed..). And it got shortlisted. Oh ya! I forgot to add. The said teacher praised a work done by another group saying that it was really good. But ah.. that's just her way of crapping. I took a look at that particular video... it was just a lot of verbose presentation... but did not meet the requirements. So, who should accompany the kids for the selection round? The best 4 will get to represent the country... 8) Their Science teacher is now dead set on being their mentor... LOL!!! Or might I add, this is an international competition.. in English. She can't write well in that for squats... but she wants credits to put on her resume for she is eyeing for so many things... from the lofty menara gading to the acclaimed guru cemerlang.... Makes me wonder... (and no.. I am not keen to go, dread the travelling and waiting. The latter can literally 'kill')<br />
<br />
This is the state of our education. Rather a sad state... a script hashed in 10 minutes without much thought is warranted good enough of an idea. Either I am damn creative or the teams could not figure out anything better... And a teacher who is clueless and might I add, without the lingo mastery feels that it is her right to showcase her 'work'.... We are after all in a show and tell system... So, die, die also hers.....<br />
<br />
Tell me, what is right anymore???AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-16982514532719027162018-01-05T23:02:00.001+08:002018-01-05T23:02:11.370+08:002018Time flies... that's when days are filled with things to do. 24 hours feel rather short now but some day, I guess 24 hours in a day will feel long. When they are things to do, time is always short. When there is nothing to do, the tick tock of the seconds reverberates and keeps reverberating, leaving echoes that keep will keep bouncing back, I supposed.<div>
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Seasons come and seasons go. When I was still a wee kid, I always thought that being a grown up is such a long way still. Then the secondary school days came, followed by university... and then the wheels just kept turning, and turning. And before long, I am now back at that point when I was just a wee little kid thinking about how far adulthood was. That was the point too when my parents were busy with so many things cos they had so many mouths to feed. </div>
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Busy... everyone is so busy these days. Whatever little community life that remains is almost gone too. What used to be time which we looked forward to small chats with our neighbours or friends are so scant these days. And that little time is now sold to the small screens that never seem to cease entertaining, connecting, occupying our lives... so connected yet so disconnected to everything real at the same time. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
In my lifetime, I have seen how how homes were invaded by the telephones only to leave it. The telephone is now replaced by one which is no more tied to that little desk or corner of the house. And there is no longer just one phone in a house these days. Phones outnumber occupants very often these days. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Cars... used to be mostly one car one household when I was a kid. 2 cars are the norm these days but anything more than 2 is not unusual too. But who knows, perhaps I will also see this four wheel mechanical transport ease out of our lives too only to be replaced by something that can be summoned from a common pool. </div>
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The one thing that I have learned is when you are a kid, you tend to think that everything you knew would remain the way they were. They don't. Lots of things are fluid. Life itself is fluid, I guess. </div>
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Another year, another attempt at reviving this blog. Somehow, it goes back to time again. There just doesn't seem to be enough of them for now.</div>
AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-83658795093546810122017-08-22T12:56:00.000+08:002017-08-22T12:56:05.225+08:00Seventy Plus Seven<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Seventy
plus seven<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It would
have been<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Today<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But now
elusive<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Forever<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Memories <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">They are<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">All that
are left<o:p></o:p></span></div>
AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-33229818446109113342017-08-16T00:45:00.002+08:002017-08-16T00:45:44.642+08:00Knee JerkWhen you hit your knee with the small little hammer, your leg jerks. It is a totally involuntary movement. Your knee jerks because something acted on it. So, a knee jerk reaction is basically that... a reaction that does not go through the process of reasoning. It is spontenous. And it reflects the content of the heart.<br />
<br />
I guess it is pretty clear that knee jerk reactions are mostly 'emo' driven and not brain driven. And I think most of us are aware what kind of results they usually bring. Knee jerkers usually are more interested to show that they are in control than appraise the actual situation. They are also usually very quick to think adversely of others without realising that they are guilty of worse.<br />
<br />
Knee jerkers... lately, there just seems to be more of them around...AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4348073083658878808.post-20990958587891736652017-06-09T11:07:00.002+08:002017-08-01T07:10:59.887+08:00What Gives Meaning...Was scrubbing the floor this morning when this thought came to mind... what gives meaning actually to the things we do? I think we'll get all sorts of reasons... convictions, remunerations, threats, fears, compulsion..... the list is there.<br />
<br />
Housework is one of those thankless jobs around and many of us would come up with all kinds of excuses and reasons why we need not do it, or if we have to do it, no need to be so particular about it. Was just thinking. What if housework is also paid in cash? Would the same sort of arguments against it now be used? Or the job will get the kind of attention that we so often reserve for those paid ones?<br />
<br />
Even though many women work these days, their husbands generally do less housework in Asian countries. While many try not to say anything adverse about who should get the housework done, women generally still shoulder the bulk of the house stuff... from seeing to the food on the table, to laundry, getting the groceries, clearing and cleaning. And women themselves too, put housework at a level lower than paid work too. There was a working lady who told me that she is not too particular about the number of times the floor of her house needs to be swept every week. I wonder if she would say the same if housework is paid.<br />
<br />
The thing was this. As I scrubbed away the dirt on the floor outside, I was suddenly amused by this thought that if that job would pay the me same as I was in my job, I am sure everyone would stop labelling being fastidious in household chores as being being naggy. Being fastidious would be a very good thing.<br />
<br />
And here's this. To those wives, and mothers who toiled laboriously year after year, and in the end still get the shorter end of the deal, it is you actually who truly understand what it means to be accountable and even admirable in those mundane, meaningless tasks that you do day in and day out.<br />
<br />
Oh ya... this is a sober reminder. Even for those of us who hold jobs that pay us money, there is also an expiration date to on us in that job. And at the end of the day when we are told that we need to leave because we have reached expiration dates, I think many of us do not know what to do with our lives too, cos all that we've known in all those productive years of ours is work equals remunerations that can be quantified. Some of us lose the focus in life. We become listless. Some of us are fortunate enough to find a second calling. Others just float along. Then there are those who simply just expire.<br />
<br />
So, what gives meaning... Wonder Woman is the current blockbuster. In the movie, Diana finally decided to fight for humanity because of love. Love manifests itself in many forms. For those of us, whose mothers toiled unrelentingly in the kitchen making sure there is food, or fastidiously kept the floors clean so that we could just plop on the floor anytime of the day, or even coming home to not a single unfolded clothes lying around... perhaps that is what actually gives meaning.<br />
<br />
While eventually all these mundane tasks might be taken over by bots or drones or whatever things robotic by nature, meaning in life sometimes does not necessarily have to be big things only. It is the small things that enable big achievements.<br />
<br />
Ah well... ramblings on a morning of floor scrubbing...AJ7http://www.blogger.com/profile/00653020709905171814noreply@blogger.com0