The Literature Component for Secondary School textbooks (for Form 1 to 3 and Form 4 to 5) are in schools now. These should be used for the teaching of the literature component in the English classroom next year. Here is the breakdown of the poems, short stories and drama that are included in the textbooks, respectively:

Form 1 to 3:

Poems

1. I Wonder – Jeannie Kirby
2. The River – Valerie Bloom
3. Mr. Nobody – Unknown author
4. Heir Conditioning – M SHANmughalingam
5. A Fighter’s Lines – Marzuki Ali
6. Leisure – William Henry Davies

Short Stories

1. Flipping Fantastic – Jane Langford
2. One Is One and All Alone – Nicholas Fisk

Drama

• Rumplelstiltskin – Angela Lanyon

Form 4 to 5:

Poems

1. In the Midst of Hardship – Latiff Mohidin
2. He Had Such Quiet Eyes – Bibsy Soenharjo
3. Nature – H.D. Carberry
4. Are You Still Playing Your Flute – Zurinah Hassan

Short Stories

1. QWERTYUIOP – Vivien Alcock
2. The Fruitcake Special – Frank Berman

Drama

• Gulp and Gasp – John Townsend

Now, the inclusion of drama is a bit of a surprise. A welcome one though. It should be fun and interesting to teach but with lower skilled students, it could be tough. The cancelation of novels, if it’s true, is a bit discouraging. I’m going to withheld any comment on the choices for the literary texts in the textbooks until I’ve explored them all.

I just want to share the dates for next year’s school, Federal and state holiday. Hope you guys can make use of it to plan your time off with the family.

First, the school holidays:

For the Federal and State Holidays, it ’s in  PDF format, so click > Federal and State Holidays

Hope these will help. Bye

I’ve been spending a lot of time on Facebook nowadays. To me it’s the best way to catch up with what’s happening in lives of my friends. Most of my FB friends are my coursemate in TESL3, former students from SMKA Tun Sakaran and colleagues in my current school.  I have just read a friend’s post on Facebook about forgetting to turn off his iron before leaving for work. Luckily, nothing really serious happened. His post reminded me of an event that happened to me when I was teaching in Semporna.

It happened on Hari Raya Haji, but I couldn’t really remember the year it was. I was staying in a government-leased house with Malik, an Ustaz. We agreed to prepare something for our would-be guests and decided on nasi himpit and kuah kacang. Under the guidance of Malik’s sister-in-law (his brother, also an Ustaz, was also teaching in Semporna), we cooked the kuah kacang a day earlier in a rather big pot. We took the pot home and cooked the nasi himpit at home the eve of Hari Raya.

The next day, on Hari Ray itself, I put the pot of kuah kacang on the stove to heat it up as we got ready to perform our Hari Raya solat at the Inabah Kamal Mosque. We left for the mosque, completely forgetting the pot on the stove. We performed our Hari Raya solat and hunkered down to listen to the Khutbah. It was when the Tok Iman mentioned the phrase “api neraka (fire from hell) that I suddenly and alarmingly remembered about the pot on the stove.

I got up, made a hasty exit from the mosque to the bewilderment of friends and people in the mosque. I started my motorcycle and literally sped home. The minute I opened the door I could smell something burning. I dashed to the kitchen and saw that not only the pot was blackened with soots but it has a gaping hole at the bottom. Luckily, and I really mean I and my housemate was that lucky, because the gas tank had ran out of gas. Just guess what would have happened if it hadn’t.

Malik, my housemate, who went to the mosque with me, had to hitchhike his way back and was stumped to see the aftermath. It was from him that I learn how to perform the sujud syukur for the first time.

The moral of the story, go and register yourself on Facebook. Just kidding, actually check and double check every power socket and stove before leaving your house.

I know I promised to be be back much earlier but I could not hold on to that promise. So sorry. I’m here now but not so sure for how long. Anyway, thanks to those who kept on checking back.

Till the next update, hasta la vista!

This blog of mine will be back online this coming January. Until then, thank you.

Today is the last day of Ramadhan here in Malaysia and tomorrow, I and other Muslims will celebrate Eid Mubarak or else known as Hari Raya Aidil Fitri here. Eid Mubarak is the celebration of the success of overcoming all the obstacles we had to endure during the month of Ramadhan. It is not, however, a ticket to over indulge. It is the time to practice what we have learnt during Ramadhan.

Well, to all those who know me…

(click the picture for a larger version)

Ministry of Education has posted the 2009 school calendar. I post a copy of them here but if you need to look at the original, click here.

Tomorrow is the 51st celebration of my country’s independence from the British. The following is the logo for the celebration as well as the theme song for it. Enjoy.

The logo

[See post to listen to audio]

The theme song (click > to play)

Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

I am a big fan of the Mythbusters (currently playing on the Discovery Channel on Astro). Let’s have the free online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, explains what or who the Mythbusters are:

“MythBusters is an American popular science television program on the Discovery Channel starring American special effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, who use basic elements of the scientific method to test the validityof various rumors, urban legends, myths and news stories in popular culture.

MythBusters is typically shot in San Francisco, California. Planning and some experimentation usually takes place at the cast’s workshops; experiments that require more space or special accommodations are filmed on location around the Bay, and occasionally the show travels to other states or countries. The show is produced by the Australian company Beyond Productions; it is written, produced and post-produced from Artarmon, Sydney.”

Let’s look also at a snippet of the opening video for the show

Then I saw this footage on YouTube, where Adam and Jamie set out to demonstrate the difference between a cpu and gpu. See the footage yourself to see their version of it. Enjoy.

The lady next to me is actually the first girl I asked out for a date. That’s the truth. And only after 20 years, we finally managed to meet once again. Her name is Suzana Abdul Rahman.

We played for our school’s handball team when we were in Form 2 and 3. When I went to SMACH, I’d lost contact with her until we met in a state tournament where we represented our respective schools. I managed to contact her again after that and asked her out for a bowl of ABC at Kedai Payung. She agreed and we had a date, the only date as it turned out. As we had to prepare for our SPM, I again lost all contact with her.

I did ask around but most of our mutual friends had no idea where she went after SPM. Then I was called for the ADP and later the TESL program, and upon graduation, was sent to Sabah. I got married, had a wonderful time in Semporna and then got transfered back to, of all places, Kemahang, where Suzana and her family stayed. Again I asked around but it seemed that no one (the ones that I asked) knew her.

Then, early this year, a teacher got transfered from Pahang to my school. He is actually from Kemahang so I asked him if he knows any Suzana Abdul Rahman. As a matter of fact, he does, as Suzana is the sister of his mate here in Kemahang. All he can tell me was she’s married and staying in KL. Ah, at least I finally got the info that I need.

Last Thursday, I received 3 missed calls on my handphone. I didn’t recognize the number so I didn’t bother to call back. Later that day, my school’s canteen operator, Abe Wie, who is now learning how to use his brand new laptop almost everyday with me and the other two ICT teachers in the lab, came in as usual. As we are busy with the really informal IT class, I got an sms from the same number.

“Hi. Ini Suzana Mek Itik. Call me.” That’s what written in the sms.

I read the message aloud to the rest and we had a good laugh. I was sure I had never called anyone “Mek Itik” and thought of it as a prank. Abe Wie however told me to think really hard. It’s someone from my past, he said. Then it stroked me. What if this message came from the very Suzana I’ve been asking about. Abe Wie, probably seeing the twinkle in my eyes, quickly explained that Suzana is the daughter of one of the workers at the canteen and she had found out that I was teaching there. She wanted to see me and had waited at the canteen but since I was too busy, never had the chance to go there yet. I wasn’t able to see her that day because she had already gone back home with her mother, so we promised to meet on Saturday.

Well, we had our ’second date’ on Saturday and we had a long conversation, exchanging stories about ourselves since the last time we met. She is as feisty, cheerful and bubbly as she was 20 years ago. She’s not in KL anymore but staying in Jeddah as her husband is working at a bank there. She’s now a Hajah (of course) and a mother of a girl.

Well, to you Suzana, who is a friend and will remain a true friend.

Oh, the picture above is actually an artistic touch from me. I am currently learning how to touch up photos and draw using my trusty laptop. The actual picture is below.

Addendum:

Suzana has flown back to Jeddah to be with her husband. Bye my lady, and be missing you. Have a great Ramadhan.