Step On A Crack ... by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge

Finished this in a day, took about 3 hours... had the whole day free today, it being Teacher's Day. 3 hours of uninterrupted reading; bliss!!! 8)

Step on a crack, break your mother's back

Step on a crack, you'll soon be eaten...

Old nursery rhymes are meaner than you think and very violent too... but that is another rambling for another day. And that's how the novel begins.

Anyway, this is Book 16 for the year. My reading is really slow this year. Distracted; but mostly welcomed ones. 8)

It's a book that tugs at the heart strings not because of the main story plot but more because the hero of novel and his wife have such big hearts. They have 10 kids of various nationalities. But his wife dies of cancer....

Main plot centres around greed. Greed for millions sees the most preposterous plot being hatched and executed. Ruthless, efficient, arrogant and cool; the villains act without morals. It started of with the killing of the First Lady, just so that they can kidnap all the bigwig attendees. They are taken hostage during her funeral. Being high profile people, the kidnappers demand more than 70 million dollars in total for their freedom.

Turns out the bad guys are not foreign bred terrorists. Bad people come from within and without. I was captivated by the hostage situation and Bennet's life crisis unfolding simultaneously. Guess that's where the thrill lies for me. The human element is provided by Maeve's (his wife) courageous fight and losing against cancer and how the kids and family rallied together.

Enjoyable read.

Chinese Curry House

I noticed this house when it was first renovated some years ago. Since then, I had forgotten about it until my friend told me that they serve nice curry... Located opposite Allianz Insurance in Jalan Lumpur, which is off Jln Tambang Badak (in the vicinity of Sentosa Hotel), the place looks quite classy. Yesterday was Teacher's Day and Bee Lee had dropped by to see us at school and we decided to give this place a try. I couldn't find the name of the restaurant but when we walked in, the lunch crowd was still there. And it was already close to 2 p.m. by then. Anyway I shall just refer to this place as the Chinese curry house ala nasi kandar.

The interior has a woody feel. Even the ceiling looks woody... even though it's made of concrete. I think they've stained it woody style. Nice workmanship. When we entered, I noticed that everyone seemed to be eating almost the same food. You have to pick the dishes you want; very much like the nasi kandar style of serving. You choose and then they send it to your table. They serve quite many types of curries, from the the many trays that I noticed was there.

This is what we ordered. Actually we didn't have much choice as many dishes were already emptied out. We took the cuttle fish curry, mutton curry, crispy salted fish, fried egg and fish head curry.

The fish head curry is the only dish that is served piping hot. And the curry is quite flavourful, sourish and light; quite different from the other fish head curry that I've tried. It's quite appetizing.

The restaurant is airy and pleasant. I like the ambience. The plants made the surrounding quite comfortable. The decor is actually quite classy by Alor Setar standard but unfortunately, their tables smell. Wooden tables need more care if used as a makan table. They could use serai (lemon grass) spray to neutralize the 'rag cloth' smell actually. The place has a great potential to become a hit actually.

The outing was nice. We adjourned to the ais-kacang makan place in Tmn Lum Sum for some ice and to continue our conversation after this curry place with no name. I might go back there again another day; at an earlier time so that I can get to sample more of their dishes.

Wait

Everyone of us waits. We spend our whole life waiting. We wait excitedly for happy occasions. We dread the sad and inevitable occasions. We wait and wait.... it's the state of waiting that makes the difference; happy, excited, worried, dread. But no matter how we feel, we still have to wait for the end to the waiting.

We cannot wait to for the time to come when we can leave home. We wait for our results. We wait for our friends. We wait for special days. We wait for our wedding day. We wait for for our first baby. We wait for more. We wait for their first day at school. We wait for them to graduate. We wait for them to get married. We wait for our first grandkid. We wait and wait.

We wait for our first interview. We wait for our first job. We wait for our first promotion. We wait to retire. Every waiting brings with it its own set of high and low.

We wait for our headaches to go away. We wait for the holidays to come. Then we wait for it to end.

And we, women wait for our period every month. We wait for it to come. We wait for it not to come. We wait for the signs that a baby is on the way. We wait for the cramps. We wait for the discomfort. We wait for it to be over. Then we wait for the cycle to repeat itself. Then we wait for the cycle to cease. We wait for another phase of our lives. We wait and wait....

We even wait for our time to come, when we have to leave this place.... our whole life is about waiting... and while waiting, we are supposed to fill up those moments. How we fill it, whether the anxiety rules over us, whether we learn to make the best of it, the joy and anticipation that comes with the waiting.... Those feelings are the colours of our lives.

So we live and wait, wait and live.... kinda in a rambling mood today.

The Death and Life of the Great American School System ...by Diane Ravitch

This took a real while to complete because it's non-fiction. But I wouldn't call it a dry book because i found it to be rather educational. What got be interested was a review of it I read somewhere; one of those educational articles that I read from one of my news aggregator.

The American education system used to be good and admired by many. Many of the world.s top universities can be found in America. But like everything else around, we always feel that reform is needed after some time; even for tried and tested ones.

The author was one of those who embraced the reforms enthusiastically but somehow changed her mind. I like her candidness, and willingness to admit that perhaps the reforms they instituted may not have been the. As the business success got into everyone's heads, we begin to feel that the business model can be applied to education. Statistics and data become the yardstick of success.

The problem with data is, once we begin to use it as a yardstick, it makes us lose sight of what education should be. We forget that there is more to education than just making sure that students can answer the questions and score. We forget that attitude shaping is also important. We forget that attitude plays a more important role in getting us ready for a useful life; to have good character and able to make sound decisions that benefit self and community. We forget to prepare them to face life's trials and tribulations with humor and courage. We forget to stress on the importance of compassion.

These days, even in Malaysia, we moan the lack of so much in our graduates, yet also fail to see that our system of squeezing as many A(s) by filling up our children's time with tuitions, extra classes and every filled minute of worthwhile work. We are getting students with better scores, better overall passing percentages in public and school exams. Yet many of us feel that something is still amiss.

This book invites us to ponder about such things after bringing us through the reforms that America's education system has been put through; by the politicians, philanthropists, business lobby groups and individuals. Teaching or rather education is often more than just imparting knowledge. It's the inculcating of good habits, the teaching of writing skills which very often make us think, of literature which seems to provide us with that little bit of reminder or even encouragement in times of turmoil and joys; the abilities to express them as a form of release.

An academic research but a worthwhile read. Recommended for those who want to understand our own system cos there are many similarities one can draw from here. The author is a historian and gives a good historical perspective. In that perspective and outline, we should be able to learn from the mistakes made too.

Book 15.

Blogger.com Down!!! ... and Water Tales

Blogger has been erratic these last few days. And I guess they must have use a backup to restore everything cos I lost one of my posts which I put up on the 13th... May 13th. Hmmmm! Many years ago, right just after I was born, Malaysia was plunged into her worst racial unrest. And lately, many people say it may have been orchestrated. Anyway, to get back to the reason for this post...

Anyway, I 'lost' a published and scheduled post each but Blogger says it's temporary...

And surprisingly, I didn't get all worked up over it. Must be a sign of mellowing down with age... LOL! Anyway, at least Blogger keeps us updated with what they're trying to do to restore everything, which is more than I can say for many services here.

To sidetrack a bit again. A couple of days ago, I was driving out one night when I noticed water gurgling on the road.... a water pipe had burst and it was creating a small brook on the road. Being conscious that water is a precious commodity, I quickly called up SADA (the water company) to report it. I was asked whether it was outside my house to which I said no... but I gave the usual necessary details when making a report.

Then the operator asked me the specific location.... I said I couldn't but I could give him the directions to the location (it's supposed to be a hard to miss area). He asked me for my contact number which I did. He said they'd call me if they need more directions. I expected the repairs to be completed by the next day....

But guess what? They must have ignored my report cos I saw repairs being done only 2 whole days later. There was a burst pipe.... a report was made. I even gave my number just in case they cannot find it. But I guess they found it too much of a hassle... cos in the end someone else must have made another report after they cannot tahan seeing so much water on the road, a day or so later.

This is a screen captured from SADA's website. They can put up all sorts of nice sounding phrases about the need to conserve water and report leakages on their website but when it comes down to their job performance, the civil-service mentality is still there. Also, take a look at the spelling errors for both languages.... 'pysical' and 'kasajahteraan'; and that's just spelling. If you look at the languages used, both are just as bad as each other. Can't they just find someone to proofread the stuff (and refine the layout) they put up so that it doesn't become a laughing stock?

Writing about SADA reminds me of my long standing water pressure problem... these days my garden hose sputters and chokes (with greater intensity if it's between 6 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. cos that's when I can hear my neighbour's pump humming away); air and water interspersing each other. The funny thing is the pressure flow and ebb with the frequency that my neighbour's pump comes on! I am sure if I call in the 'water people' again, they are going to tell me to fix up a pump to compete with my neighbours. It's supposed to be against the law to fix a pump before a reservoir but who is going to care. So all those talk about needing to look out for the welfare of the poor??? Mostly it's just talk to score the right points. Cos if everyone in my housing area fixes up a pump, I wonder what will happen to the water pressure in the kampung just a stone's throw away from my area.

I called in a plumber to clean my water tank the other day and when he saw my water pressure... water was trickling into my upstairs tank... he told me I should fix up a pump. I said fixing up a pump is not a problem. I'm still trying to hold on for as long as possible, keep to the rule of the law cos I still think it's not fair on others. But I don't know how long I can hold out some more. The water pressure might become so low one day that water might only trickle into my upstairs tank at night... and when that day comes, I might have to break the law too.... all because some people want water to gush out from the garden hose... and one friend says it's in SADA's best interest that people fix up pumps... they use more water, SADA earns more.

Water conservation, anyone???

Under Siege

We seem to be a society under siege. We construct walls do defend imaginary threats to our bangsa and agama. We whine, complain, threatened.....

Yesterday started with a downpour, a welcomed one cos it has been extremely hot these couple of weeks. As usual when it rains in the morning, the absentee rate at school goes up. And there is a big increase in the number of latecomers as well. Truth be told many of us teachers actually feel happy when the problem students don't come to school because of the rain. There is more peace.

I had a class during the first period. And since it had been raining, there were stragglers. Once upon a time, my teachers used to make sure that we greeted them properly before we entered the class. These days, such manners are lacking where I am. Anyway, this morning I had a couple of late comers. And this is how it went...

Boy sauntered in. I stopped him and asked him what he should have done. He stared at me blankly. I rephrased. He said nothing. Then I asked him what he would do if he visits a friend at the friend's house. He replied he would knock on the door. I asked him what he should follow it up with.... he said nothing. Then he said rather righteously and accusingly that he was late because of the rain. This time, I retorted that I didn't ask for the reason why he was late. I said it seemed obvious that he was late like many that day due to the rain. And i had no issue with that. I told him one need not be a genius to see there will be some students who would be caught by the rain. I wanted him to tell me what he should do whenever he visits his friend after he knocks on the door and is acknowledged. Finally a grudging answer, "bagi salam". I told him that I require common courtesies in class. In the process I thought I felt his resolve (don't know for whatever reason) melt away. Lesson went on as usual after two more almost similar encounters....

I notice that defensive responses is the norm these days. Students behave like they are under siege whenever we try to hold them accountable to their behaviour. Thry seem to feel that we're out to find fault with them. They feel that each time a teacher reprimands them, they're being wronged, or that people are out to make life difficult for them because they relish seeing them made squirmy. While part of the fault lies with the students, maybe due to upbringing, teenage rebelliousness and other reasons, I guess in a way we are responsible too for conditioning them to feel like that. Way too many teachers ramble and rattle, not forgetting nag and yell at students for the slightest bit of mistakes. We create big hoo and hah over little things. I sometimes see teachers trying to exercise too much control over the students' lives. And I think that only serves to antagonize many of them.

Life has generally improved a great deal for this generation but manners have not. Once I used to teach in a rural school where students might have had rather colourful exposures due to the proximity to the border towns. But those students were generally well mannered and polite with teachers.. These days, I find many students obnoxious bordering uncouth. Perhaps it's our fault too for not drawing clear lines with them. Hazy lines cause behavior to become hazy too sometimes.

Under siege... That's how I view my students yesterday. They behaved as though they we under persecution....

1Malaysia Free Netbooks

Slightly over 300 students in my school are getting free netbooks; and that is almost have the school population. I read over a year ago that the PM proposed to give away 1 million netbooks worth about RM1 billion under this 1Malaysia free computer programs. The requirement is that the family income does not exceed RM3000. Last year newspapers reported abuses of this program in Sarawak where teachers purportedly allocated the computers to their own children. And then there are those who sold their their free netbook for profit.

I read somewhere too that the recipients of these netbooks also get to subscribe TMNet Broadband at discounted rate. I wonder the benefits of this program. I am sure there are many other projects which can be carried out at school with this sort of allocation. Need to do research to prepare their folios?? I guess that can be done at school. With so much money there are so many facilities that can be provided.

As for the 300 over of my students who will be getting this windfall? I don't see much tangible benefits except that this is a freebie. First and foremost most of them can't understand English well enough to want to read any academic stuff or get involved in any online intellectual discourse. What I do know is many will probably spend more time after they get their netbooks (and broadband subscription)playing online games and perhaps even more time chatting. Talk to any teenager and see what their main preoccupation with the computer is and you'll see what I mean. One rarely sees kids poring over articles at the computer. What one is more apt to see is a kid glued to the screen displaying any of the popular online games.

And parents! I think many of them will now have kids who tell them to shove off since the netbook is given to them. We might be seeing a new wave of 1Malaysia netbook related problems from this. Probably the one good thing out of this might be the cyber cafes now have serious competition. LOL! Kids don't need to hang out there. They can play in the safety of their homes. Parents will have a great babysitter in the netbooks.

Netbooks to encourage self-learning? Even with guidance also, many of them are already not interested. So how can a netbook help? It's not like the MOE has digitalized the textbooks. And even if they have done it, what about the others who didn't get their netbooks? What about those whose parents earn just slightly above RM3000? They too can claim that they cannot afford to buy netbooks for their children. The price of sugar has just gone up 20 sen. Chicken is also getting more expensive. In the coming months, we are going to see prices of more things going up. Battery prices are up. Prices of butter has gone up too, I heard.

I think we are carrying this 1Malaysia thing is wasteful. What comes easy is seldom appreciated. What is given freely often times makes us lose our competitiveness too.

An official was reported to be saying that recipients cannot sell their free netbook as there are records. This is Bolehland, where follow-ups run out of steam very quickly or leaks; just like the Puduraya new bus terminal. Built to be the state of art bus terminal, the double decker busses can't really go in. The other joke is the roof leaks! .... just like many leaking (or falling) roofs of new buildings built in the last decade.

1Malaysia netbooks!!!! If I didn't know better, I'd think that this might be one way to unload all the old stock now that the iPad is slowly eating into their marketability.