Ching Ming Festival, 清明節

Last Saturday and Sunday, I went cleaning my hubby's grandparents and my father-in-law's cemeteries.
I am going to clean my grandparents' cemetery this coming Saturday too.
I am spending three days for Ching Ming this day (also known as Tomb Sweeping Day).

Last Sunday, hubby's three years old nephew joined us to clean his Ah Kong's tomb (my FIL's tomb).
On our way back, he asked why he didn't see Ah Kong at the graveyard?
I find it funny but it is not going to be funny if he tells that he sees Ah Kong there, isn't it?

Teachers and students gathering

I had a gathering with my ex-students few days ago after they received their STPM results.
Most of them did quite well and I am very proud of them.
Only one student gets 5A (inclusive of A-) but the rest get CGPA that enough for them to enter local university.

During the gathering, I got to know them even better.
They are not like what I used to think of them.
They used to be quite childish and wanted the teachers to spoon-feed them most of the time.
But now, suddenly I feel that they have grow up.
May be that few months time working in our society had 'enriched' their mind.
It had turned them from kid to adult.
LOL

I had a very nice chat and memorable moment with them during that gathering.
They really treat the teachers with well-manner.
By the way, there were all-boy students.
I am going to have another gathering tonight.
This time, I was told only my own class students will attend.

Gee...
I start to feel uncomfortable.
Why they keep treating me and is it going to be my turn to treat them back?
haiyo...
36 of them le...
I am going to be pokai!

**********

p/s: Oh yes, I had a gathering last year with my ex-ex-students which I enjoyed very very much too. To make it even better, we had a second round. We went karaoke-ing and believe it or not... beer drinking session. wahahaha... just one mug per pax. So, don't lecture me about not suppose to do it with my students. They are all well-mannered one and know their 'boundary' well.

101 East - The fight for power - Video that Sarawakian has much interest in

Below is an interview done by the Al Jazeera's Fauziah with Sarawak's Land Development Minister Dato Sri Dr James Masing.

The Malaysian state of Sarawak plans to build 12 new hydro-electric dams along the state's waterways, saying the projects will create jobs, provide cheap renewable energy and meet the demands of future industrialisation.

The dams are supposed to push the total generating capacity in the state to 7,000MW by 2020, an increase of more than 600 per cent from the current capacity.

There are plans to expand the aluminium-smelting industry in the state which will need the planned output.

But critics question the sustainability of the project.

炸到"周华健" by phaur

I watched this video a year ago.
I am very impressed with this creative work.
For those who are the big fan of Emil Chou (周华健), you should realised that the song is written based on all the song titles of Emil Chou's famous songs.
I hope you will like the song too.

Open Book Test

Lembaga Penilaian Kompetensi Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia (LPKKPM) telah bersetuju supaya kaedah Open Book Test digunakan bagi Peperiksaan PTK Gred 17 hingga 44 komponen generik (Umum) di mana calon dibenarkan merujuk kepada bahan rujukan undang-undang/akta/peraturan semasa peperiksaan dijalankan. Peperiksaan ini dikuatkuasakan mulai sesi Mac 2009.

Antara bahan rujukan undang-undang yang bersesuaian adalah seperti yang berikut :
(a) Perintah-perintah Am
(b) Peraturan-peraturan Lembaga Tatatertib Perkhidmatan Awam 1993
(c) Arahan Perbendaharaan
(d) Akta Prosedur Kewangan 1957
(e) Arahan Perkhidmatan, dan
(f) Peraturan/akta/undang-undang lain ayng bersesuaian

Calon TIDAK dibenarkan merujuk kepada bahan bacaan semasa peperiksaan dijalankan bagi komponen kertas Kompetensi Khusus/Fungsi.

*******************

I retrieved the above information from the pekeliling that I read online.
Beside that, for those who are interested, you can do your revision from this website.

Below are the links that will direct you to the quizzes' sites.

http://www.teachersrock.net/ptk1.htm
http://www.teachersrock.net/ptk2.htm
http://www.teachersrock.net/ptk3.htm
http://www.teachersrock.net/ptk4.htm
http://www.teachersrock.net/ptk5.htm
http://www.teachersrock.net/ptk6.htm
http://www.teachersrock.net/ptk7.htm
http://www.teachersrock.net/ptk8.htm
http://www.teachersrock.net/ptk9.htm
http://www.teachersrock.net/ptk10.htm

I understand that you can also do more revision exercises from this site.

To those who are going to sit for your PTK exam, my very best to all of you.
Hope everyone can get 4 for both papers.
+U+U+U

Losing Voice

The wrose thing about losing voice is

Cannot shout for joy when
Lee Chong Wei
defeats
Lin Dan
during the Swiss Open Final!!!

Straight set...
The whole nation must be shouting of joy now.
Lee Chong Wei defeating Lin Dan in one of the world championship is not an easy job.
I don't remember him doing that many times except in Malaysia.
hahaha...
Really enjoy the badminton game a few minutes ago.
Way to go, Datuk Lee!!!

Berperang demi keamanan

Read the title right.
But do remember that,
I did not say that.
I just repeating what my student said this morning.

My Form 4 students were having their art exam this morning.
One of my students refused to do his work.
He gave me a reason that he didn't bring his coloring materials.
He also added that he cannot draw.

But I saw that he just refused to do his work.
Instead he just sat there and disturbed his friends.
I felt very bad about this and confronted him.
But I started with having small talk to him.

He told me that he wants to be an army.
He said that he wants to fight in a war.
I asked him why he wants to fight?
What can fighting bring to the world?
He told me that 'berperang demi keamanan'.

I told him that it is not true.
War only brings many death and suffering to the people.
It cannot solve many things.

Then, he told me that he wants to kill people.
He wants to kill people with shot gun.
I asked him where to find a shot gun.
He said he can buy it from the Vietnamese.
Gee... I think he watches too many movies.

I think he just entertaining me.
He simply says anything without much thinking.
Then, I started asking him about his family background.
He is not staying with his parents.
He is now staying with his grandparents.
He thinks that his parents do not want him.
But I suspect that there must be another story behind it.
His parents are working in Sibu now.

I didn't ask many things though cos I felt that he is quite reluctant to tell me more.
Instead he will tell me a lot of rubbish.
But he did somehow give me an impression that he feels that his parents do not want him.
His parents do not love him.
But I told him that he must plays his role as a son well.
I think he must earn the attention from his parents.
The best way is to study well.

Next time when he is married and has some children, he will know that the role as a parent is not easy.
If cannot understand it, he will foresee his own child repeating all the same thing that he had gone through.
I hope he understands what I had said.
But I know he probably will only understand it after another 20 years.

Unbelievable

This is crazy.
How can a school forget this important day?
How can a school do not know that STPM result will be announced on this very day?
And when somebody tell them that they read about it in our local Chinese newspapers, they said Chinese newspapers' news are not trustable.
They need a black and white from the office or an official call from the office.
And the most funny thing is that they even chased the students away claiming that they can only check their result on Thursday and not today.

But later, after 'don't know what happened', they realised that the students were right after all.
By then, it was almost 11am.
So, the school sent some representatives to the office to collect the results.
The poor students only can check their results after 12pm.

I wonder if the school does not really care much about the students' results, how one suppose to improve their students' performances and get the school status out from SPR (Sekolah Pencapaian Rendah)?
When the teachers remind them the mistakes, there are still no immediate actions.
No wonder nowadays, teachers are lack of passions in their works.

But the good news is for Mathematics T, out of 28 students of mine, only one fails it.
Overall, the school has two students that fail Mathematics T.
Indeed there is an improvement though the quality is not as good as year 2007.
But I am still very happy with it.

Happy Birthday to me

Today is the anniversary of Malaysia's March 8 tsunami election.
Today is the 三八妇女节。
Today is also my birthday.
That's why many friends and colleagues can remember this day well.
Just a few days ago, one of my colleagues reminded the rest that my birthday is coming soon.

By the way, 三八 means busybody.
So, I am a busybody woman.
It is the truth.
No denial on that.
I declare myself the president of 三八, though I am embarrassed to admit that.
I am the best chairperson during the gossiping session.
hahaha...
That's why my favorite number is 3 and 8.

What is my wishes for this year birthday?
The first one has to go to wishing MIL recovered soon.
The second has to go to MIL again.
Hopefully I can get the best gift for her to remember.
The gift that she has been waiting for a long time.
The third one has to go to everyone in my family and friends to be happy and healthy all the time.
Lastly, I have keep the rest of my wishes unpublished.
hihihi...

Btw...
I don't expect a celebration for today since hubby's cousin is getting married today.
Since MIL is not well, it will be another normal day.
But I am sure it will be a day with a lot of best wishes from friends and family.

Life routine

Ever since my mother-in-law is sick, my life routine has changed.

Most of the time, either I am in school or stay at home.
This make my time in school is so much enjoyable rather than staying at home.

This is my first time taking care of aging people.
It is not an easy task.
Furthermore, I am not confidence with my capability.
I can't wear a fake smile while knowing that thing is not as good as what we want.
I can't take care of my own feeling and I am not sure if I can comfort her as well.

At this moment, I am sad.
Call me selfish.
I think I only remember Him at this kind of moment.
I can only refer to Him to unburden my load.
But since I don't know Him well, I still feel the heavy load on my shoulder.
I need Him to give me the strength to live on.
I need Him to carry me through all this suffering.
May Lord be with me.

This emotional post reminds me of the story of footprints.

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?”

The Lord replied,
“The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you.”

STPM & SPM result

The exciting moment is here again.
The results of STPM 2008 and SPM 2008 will be announced on the 10th March 2009 and 12th March 2009.

Pray God that all my students can pass my Mathematics T and hope to see a few students with A. At the same time, I do hope the percentage of passing for my Mathematics T will increased this year. I taught two classes out of three classes.
So, the burden is on my shoulder.
Yiek... it is so heavy.
LOL

Lunar Birthday

Today is my lunar birthday.

I don't really know which day.
My parents always remind me when is the day.
They only celebrate my lunar birthday.
So, I can save my Gregorian calendar's birthday for my friends and hubby.

Today, I am not going to have any dinner at any grand restaurant.
Instead, I request my mum to cook all my favorite dishes.
Nowadays, I don't eat at my parents' house anymore.
So, today I am going to satisfy myself with all my mum's delicious food.
I can't wait to eat one of my favorite dish, 湖北蒸菜.
Hope to take a pic of that dish later.

湖北蒸菜
A pic that I simply snapped after my dinner.
As usual, I am still very shy to take pic just for my blog.
Even my sister and brother are telling everyone that it is for me to upload to my blog.
Eeewww....