Hulu Selangor By election

By elections usually leave me a little bit restless...but the Hulu Selangor by election is one that is really breath taking for me. Why? For one thing, PR won by a razor thin margin. Thus, this by election is a real test of acceptance of the opposition-run Selangor state, although this is a parliamentary by election.
But as always, whoever wins, will this person stay on connected with the grassroots....or just another one of those politicians?

steamed fish head

at a food court with my dad. Ordered steamed fish head. this steamed fish head...i loved it, especially the fat in the head. Now i wonder...is this fat really good as many people have been claiming? The world is full of assertions and claims, it is wise to filter out, and be clever not to trust too much in anything.....but what the heck...i still love my fish head...

Chicken Pox

Hai...had chicken pox the past few days. The fever i had in the beginning was really high and terrible. Times such as this help me to appreciate the blessing of good health that God has given to us. Thankfully, the pox has dried. Took this medicine that i had to take five times a day--acyclovir. Will go back to work coming Monday, after almost two weeks of sick leave...how boring...just stay at home email, surft net, watch tv, etc.

street magicians

Watching over AXN channel, a street magic show by Cyril. Hmmmm....sometimes i think i would like to be one too....perhaps may be more interesting than just giving a lecture in class......hhahahhaha...but i am sure street magic is real, hard work...

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of 'ALLAH' and "Tuhan"

There has been a lot of issues, debates, arguments, demonstrations, etc. on this issue. As an academic, let me give my two cents worth from my perspective:

(i) linguistically, a word is a word. Its referent may be known by many symbols--Allah, tuhan, God, etc. etc.
(ii) however, we have to look at the pragmatics of this situation. If Muslims want to use Allah exclusively for their religion, what is wrong with that? Why should catholics use "allah" when they could use "tuhan". Why should the Christian God be known as "Allah" ?

Frankly, let the muslims use "Allah" and let the christians use "Tuhan".

But i think the real issue is also the banning of bibles from indonesia, because they use the word Allah.

Ahhh...so there lies the real problem isn't it...the govt should take pro-active steps to allow publications of bibles, etc. in the Malay language (which is the lingua franca of many of our Sabahans and Sarawakians) and allow the church to publish these materials locally.

It is no problem for the church to use the word "Tuhan" to replace "Allah". In my opinion, it is easy for the catholic church to change the word through its mass media--the mass, catechism, prayer groups, etc.

But the church has to be given the freedom to publish its own reading materials locally.

disappointing trip

tomorrow going back to KL, after four days in vietnam. Rather disappointing trip for me. Ho ChiMinh city is crowded,dirty and noisy. nothing much to see here. Went for mekong river cruise and it was disappointing as well. Nothing new to see there. Took about two hours plus to go there from the city, and two hours back, duh...and saw nothing.

Food wise, another disappointment. The only good things here are the beef noodles and the vietnamese spring rolls (the ones with pork fillings inside). Don't take the ones where you roll by yourselves (the ones served with pork or shrimp and various kinds of veggies/herbs). It was horrible...
So, take the ones that are deep fried. NOw, those are lovely. Will be back to be home tomorrow....as the proverb goes, "east or west, home is best"

IN HO chinh Minh city, vietnam right now. arrived yesterday afternoon. wow, the city has lots and lots and lots of motorbikes. like no man's land. crossing the roads is such a terrifying experience. have to be careful. hope don't get killed here....had vietnamese beef noodles. good. the hotel is good, with good service. friendly staff.

Penang food not so good any more

People used to praise Penang food but i think it has been overated nowadays. Was in penang for four days and ate penang food in four different places. First night was in Feringghi food court. Ordered cantonese fried and hokkien fried noodles. Below average. Next night was in Northam Beach cafe. Had this french crepe (above average), tom yam yong tau fu (average), lam mee (horrible). then was in Tg. Tokong food court. Ordered curry mee (okay). Next day was in New World--curry mee (not as good ad the one in tg tokong, soup noodle (horrible) and tom yam fried rice (average). Conclusion: either we went to the wrong places or the good penang hawker owners have migrated to KL as I can get better food there...:-))

Time time time...why are thou so fast?

It is almost the end of the year, and as i reflect on the past eleven months, i get anxious...i have done quite a lot on other things, but not much progress in my research. Now, this is getting me anxious...i have to give myself two weeks now to get something done, a paper or something like that...but time is against me...:-(

A sad day

Yesterday four UTAR students went swimming in a waterfall in Kampar. Three of them drowned. One of them, a girl, was a student in my faculty--Yew Shy Gin from the chinese studies dept. May their souls rest in peace. I am told, another boy, James was a very active student during his foundation days in UTAR.....

life is short, life is precious,
live life with care
respect it,
don't take it for granted,
...

Mid-autumn festival

A friend and his residents' committee organized a mooncake festival. He invited me. there were the usual speeches, and there was this walk around the field with children taking along their lanterns. Reminds me of my kiddy years when I was holding the lantern and walked in the area around my house in PJ. Remember my sis and mum were with me....ah....those were the years...something to cherish, but never to lived again as we pass through this world but once...now I am forty five, going to forty six....live every day to its best, cherish every moment, for we pass through this world but once....

Is life just like this?

hai...is there all to life...eat, sleep, work, work work work....hhahahaha....am working on my research papers now, since it is exam week and finish my lectures...but still my mind not in full gear...as the chinese say...must "kar yau" (add oil) so that there is more energy to do the things I want to do...and i really want to come up with papers for publication....hai.....

accidents, accidents

was visiting my dad at the nursing home, and by chance saw a short news clip about some nasty accident in dunno-where, but definately in Malaysia cos the traffic policeman i saw in the news clip is Malaysian...now as I am at home and thinking about this.....every time when there is a long festive holiday (and it is a holiday now cos of national day), some people will die because of nasty accidents. And the cause of these accidents?----inconsiderate drivers...once along the Gopeng-Ipoh trunk road, I saw a lorry overtaking a few cars (and it was a double line on the road), narrowly missed an oncoming car which swerved to the side of the road...sigh....it is the evil that other people do that causes the suffering of another...

In Kuantan

Nothing much interesting here in Kuantan. Holed up in hotel for past two/three days for meetings. Now meeting over, am in another hotel in Kuantan (Grand Continental). Still in hotel...hahahah...need to finish marking my test papers, prepare my lecture notes....need to relax....long overdue holiday...but am looking forward to my overseas holiday in Taiwan in October (will have to spend time doing my paper for submission if I want to go)...going there to present a paper in a conference. Will have to leave it to Ethen to prepare the itenarary.
Yesterday, had good dinner in Pak Su, at Beserah...and surprise surprise...celebrated also Dr. Basil and Elaine's fortieth wedding anniversary...

teaching aids such as linguaphone

Today's Star online reports that DPM suggests using more teaching aids such as linguaphone to help students improve their English. Pro and Con in using linguaphone. For language teachers, they are well aware of the methods (and i am using this word as an education jargon), and their plus and minus points. Personally, linguaphone has its advantages, but its main disadvantages is the cost. The govt. will have to spend thousands and millions of ringgit to place these sets into schools, and in time, they will become white elephants. Besides, one set, for how many students? Meaning, how many students can use the linguaphone set at any one time? Use the tape recorder and play the recording for the whole class????--then what is the point of having the teacher? In addition, which English will be taught via linguaphone? Who is the model? Hmmm...not for it, ultimately...

Watching a variety show...there is this young man from Taiwan who is quite impressive with his tricks. Hmmm...i guess magic is one thing that i would like to learn...but they are all expensive (to learn the tricks are expensive)....ah well...no pain, no gain...I have tried once, incorporating magic tricks into the English lesson. Quite good. especiallly the mathematical tricks.

hai...have a lot of work but mind very blank now...mind wants to relax and surf net...hai..must force it to do some work...documentation to do...read news about an aide to the Selangor exco, who fell to his death...hai...dun want to say too much...but politics sure is dirty...assuming there is foul play: suicide, murder? assuming no foul play: sleep walking, slip and fell? dunno lah....politics sure is a dirty game...I shall stick to be an academic...

The future of English in malaysian schools

The forum on the future of English in Malaysian schools gave me two insights--one, irregardless of what happens, what policies may be changed, what decisions have been made, i still hold that responsibility to be an English educator and make that difference to the people, and students who come into contact with me. Two, the forum attracted parents as well, and it was good to see this healthy state of concern among parents. I hope there will be more expressions of such concern by parents, educators, etc.

A visit to the Pink Triangle

Went to visit the Pink Triangle Foundation (PTF) in KL. I always thought it was a 'gay' orgnization. Not really, yes, they do work for the gay community (HIV+, educating on safe sex awareness, etc) but the acting executive director told me that actually seventy to eighty percent of their work is on the drug addicts, mak nyah,..generally the marginalized...the community of people forsaken by their parents, village, etc. People who are drug addicts and who have no hope in life....
What good work they are doing...never mind about the morality of it all (I guess some people would brand these as 'sinners', 'low-educated' etc), but I am greatly impressed with the work that is being done by Pink Triangle Foundation. Keep it up you guys in PTF. By the way, they are looking for funds. So if anyone dunno what to do with their spare cash....give a thought (and your money) to PTF.