The passing of king of Pop today

Best Dance Move Ever (A tribute)




Michael Jackson has officially passed away today...
cardiac arrest...
suffering from skin cancer....
He's just 50...
Another legend...
Anyway....
Those who grew up in the 80s would know how much his
music influenced us during our growing up years...
just that in the last 10 years of his life...
he screws up quite a lot...
Anyway...i have always admired the way his body is very flexible
when he danced....
he was undeniably a VERY Good dancer...
(of course i dislike the groin clutching move of his...)
Anyway...it reminds me of when we were young...
my cousins and i would try to
moon walk and break dance....
I never thought that he would be gone at such a young age...
i always thought that he would live to a ripe old age...
Anyway...we'll never know right...

Teaching adult classes

Last weekend, 21/06/09, Chin and I met, for the first time,
the Orang Asli group from Kampung
Sebir, Labu to get to know them...
Rather like getting to know how many actually will be
in our Communicative English Class.

How did we get involve in this, you might ask?
Well...as part of the RCIA class that Chin joined last year,
the newly converts have to be involved in at least
1 ministry.
After learning about all the ministries available
and since we are both teachers, Chin feels that
this is something that we can achieve.
I have my doubts but obviously God is leading me somewhere...
and i have pledged in my prayers each time that i will try my
utmost best to do things as God's will
and obey it...
and not be rebellious me for once...
and i discover that God's will usually works out for the best
even though i know it not at the time...

Well...it is a Voluntary work...like community service...
giving back to the community...
and not merely just consumers...
but as teachers...we give all the time....
just that students rarely appreciate it...
we, teachers, are more like pests that nag them endlessly
on unfinished work and unruly behaviours...

So...well...in our list...there are 30 something
adults from the Orang Asli community...
and we also learn that there are some who are illiterate...
So...we both have no experience what-so-ever in teaching
adult classes...let alone illiterate ones...
students are different....
so i guess we will have to split the class into
literate and illiterate...

I have searched on the net for some clues as to what and how to begin
and thank God there are some useful sites...
so i hope that these sites will sustain us until we
get the hang of what we are actually doing...

I guess we'll just have to be creative and improvise as we
get along...
Wish us luck...
and God...you'd better guide us in this one...
just kidding...

Not much of a holiday....haih...

I can't believe that i have to work during the holiday...
I am still struggling with my state level debate script
to be completed...
so far...i managed to complete opposition speaker no 1 script...
and i suffer from writer's block now....
cannot continue with my 2nd speaker's script...
poor kids...
Haih...
and on top of that i am juggling with my markings....still 2 classes of essays
to finish...
oh gosh....
Tomorrow we are off to Bukit Tinggi Indonesia
and will be coming back on Sunday...
i hope i can managed everything by today
so i can go with a free mind....haih.....

The ROADS to be Taken.....and learning to let go...

Every now and then...we will be faced with more than
one choices in life....
and we will be standing at a crossroad that will
affect our whole future...
That one determining moment will surely appear in our life
for at least once and we will not know what to do...

Most decisions in our life will not have such profound effect
but there are certain points in life which
is crucial in changing our whole life ahead...

One such moments will be when one is 18 and has to decide
what is best for our future...
This is the most difficult moment in life because
with one choice taken...our whole
life MAYBE will be changed forever...
What could be and what maybe and what could have been will
definitely be erased from that moment on...
Or our whole life could be just a whole line
of speculative words....
I read an article once...
about choices that we made...
These choices exist parallel in our life...maybe in
different dimension...
another life...
all the could have and would have...
existing at the same time in the future...
With one stroke of choice that we made....
one of the could haves and would haves will be erased...
and we will live life as we have chosen it...

Well...Chin's nephew now is at a crossroad...of his life...
He has to choose between going to Monash or continue with
Matriculation....
Both are equal opportunities for him...
but Monash appears to be on a greener field...
He has his anxieties of going on to the greener field
but i guess he is also torn between to stay on in matriculation..

His mom has been bugging him over and over again...
(by bugging i mean REALLY REPEATING OVER and OVER again
like a broken tape recorder or a stuck cd)
to accept Monash that she is showing her disappointment at
discovering her son's anxiety...

What she didn't understant is that he is at a difficult
crossroad of his life now...
and that he has to make that decision himself...
and what worries him is that if he chooses one
over the other....
he might not be able to cope...

I guess that the main underlying issue here is that
he is expected to be a wise adult now...
making the right decision that will make him HAPPY
in the future...
one that he will be able to look back and say
'I have weighed the pros and the cons and have ultimately
pick the one that i think will make a difference
in my life and ultimately give me happiness and contentment...'

Being a wise adult is not an easy task..
and this is the first step for him....
The day he makes up his mind
can be considered as
The first day of the rest of his life...
because everything ahead will be counted from this decision making
that he makes...

Well...on the other hand...
i do understand too that his mom only wants what she
considers as the best for him...
and to her....
the way out to a better life and wider choices is
Monash...
She wants to be able to look back someday to see that her
son is having a decent living based on her guidance...
and that of course...as parents...
we do not want to see our children suffer from the
difficult life...
So..it is a conflict for her too...
but the way she is showing it is of course
pushing her son further away...
i think that she is also at a crossroad now...
a crossroad of letting her son go...
so that he in return....will be able to make
a wise judgment for his own life...

I just hope that they will be happy in the end....
with whatever choices that they are making...

A tale of two cousins...

Life is as unexpected as a jar full of mix flavoured chocolates...
It can simply dish out anything your way...
and totally surprising too...
The twist sometimes may make you feel happy or sometimes it
may disappoint you...
but as the saying goes...
if life hands you lemon...make lemonade out of it...

My sister-in-law is over the moon today...
her eldest son, Chew See How, who is
cureently studying in Matriculation in Kuala Pilah, has just been
offered a foundation course in Monash Uni Malaysian Campus
by PSD (JPA)...
He is happily contented in matriculation but this Monash
offer is something that he has hoped for for so long...
And he is still waiting for another offer...
hopefully he will get it...
a teaching course overseas...

Anyway...why do i say life has a funny twist to it?
Well...See How's mother has always been worried about him
and wish that he is more like his cousin who is of the same age...
His cousin is his mother's sister's second son,
Lee Chee Wei....the brilliant ones in the family...
the one who is always top in his school...
one who always scored the best results in public examinations
and doing his mother proud.
He has always been no 1 in his whole form...the head boy and so on and
so forth...
When See How got his UPSR result, his of course was not as
good as Chee Wei...
When the PMR results came...again...
Chee Wei top the list...
and See How's mother always complained that she would be
lucky if See How can get a slightly good result in SPM...
She also always compared him to his younger brother...
who to me, is a bit cocky for his age...
I guess Mr Chin too puts more hopes in Chee wei...
rather than See How...
he always said that Chee Wei will be very famous in Mantin
and that he will get offers from various institutions
after SPM...

But alas, life has other plans for the both of them...
See How surprisingly scored a VERY good result in SPM...
very unexpected of him...
and Chee Wei did very well too...
The only thing we didn't understand is
he did not put any effort in searching and applying for various
scholarships online and other universities application as well...
The only thing that he applied for was PSD scholarship
and that was only after being urged by his cousin
and Mr Chin...
He even waited until the last moment before he sent his application in...

But for See How...he is a different character totally...
He searched the net incessantly for scholarships
and he also applied for UPU and other foundation courses
besides JPA...
He is very independant and in a way street smart...
surviving on his own...
his mom did not help him...
he tried everything within the two weeks after the result was announced...
and when he failed to get any offer, he wrote the appeal
letter himself and sent it off...

Well...for his unending effort...
life gives him great returns....
first he was offered matriculation in Kuala Pilah...
and a week there....
his appeal for a PSD scholarship was reviewed and
he was offered a PSD scholarship for a foundation
course in Monash Uni Malaysian Campus...
and he's still hoping for a third offer...PPC...the
overseas teaching programme...

Chee Wei didn't fare so well...
his application for PSD scholarship was rejected and
even his appeal was not accepted...
since he did not apply for any other institution...
he didn't get any other offer at all...
so he's doing A-level instead in INTI college - self sponsored...

The irony here is that sometimes...
we have to be balanced in our life....studying and being street smart...
I guess the circle of friends that we're in does influence our lives
as well....
See How's friends are all very acacdemically inclined and
has knowledge and exposure to things around them...
they are more aware of what's happening around them
as compared to Chee Wei who always
has his head burried in books...
but well....because of that somehow...
he is a bit lackadaisical about the whole thing...
Sometimes...a person can change along his life's journey...
a late bloomer....
so...maybe he does not perform so well initially but eventually...
he does perform...
and more so....
he is INDEPENDENT.....

A toast to you, See How....
I hope that you'll always do that...
take life by it's neck...
and squeeze the opportunites out for yourself....

Another friend will be gone...from the school...

The last day of school day for this term
brings in another sad event...
some of my colleagues will get a transfer to other schools...
one of them is my good fren Umi who came to this
school the same year as i did...
She's my friend who stays in Mantin and one that i truly
enjoy spending time with...
be it driving her back when she was having her pregnancy sickness
(it was not exclusive to morning only)
or when chin had to go back late from his school and i had to hitch a hike..

Anyway...i know that i will miss her because going out with her all
those times were among the bestest time i ever had in
the years i am in UJ...
so...i will miss her presence and calling out UMI
in the staffroom for her...
But i do not feel very sad because she will always be in Mantin
for as long as her husband still works in Nilai...
so i can always visit her in mantin...
as i told her...
it is not goodbye...
but merely not seeing each other on a daily basis...

I hope that she'll get SMK Mantin so that it'll be close to her house
and that she does not have to travel
so far alone in the morning...
All the best to you my friend...