2012/2013

The Curious Case of Malaysian Education Fixation in Science, and Many Others.

According to this news article it's again brought up that Malaysia needs more and more students in the so called Science stream. Yeah, in Form Four, Malaysia students need to face the cruel decision to choose either science or arts and have to say goodbye to their friends, after all, each of us have different preferences in life right? right?

No, in this weird Malaysia, all top students are expected to go into Science stream. So naturally, all 3 Arif students go 4 Science 1, all 3 Zaplap students go 4 Perdagangan. No need say goodbye to our usual friends.
Want to be a lawyer? Let's go science stream.
Want to be an economist? Go science.
Want to be teacher? Science.
Want to be doctor? Science of course.
Want to be engineer? Science la.
Want to be accountant? Science also.

If you are good student considering accountacy, here's what you hear:
Aiyah no need go account class, that class teacher won't go teach properly one. Come science class, then take tuition at that Mr Lim. He very good one, guarantee A.

So it's not a matter of choice; all top scorers are expected to go into science stream automatically, with only few exceptions when the students and parents know and make decisions different from school arrangement. And that usually put the students in disadvantage in term of learning.

Yeah the school usually assign you into science classes if you score good in PMR, unless you protest.
The top students go science, the rest of the bad weak students go do arts and you are doomed. Nobody will love you because you are in arts class.Because you are bad students, you cannot study.

So where's the point of science and arts streaming? I also don't know. Malaysian education system is a bureaucratic haphazard irrational system for so long. Teachers can sleep in class and won't get sacked. Teachers ponteng more than students yet still get paid. All those over stacking paper woks.

Well At least I know Malaysia produces lots of brilliant students and becoming the best of the best in various industries, but the problem is they are not serving in Malaysia. Where? Singapore. Also UK USA etc. Why? Malaysian government is stupid. Yeah they are stupid enough to pay millions and billions for scholars yet can't retain many. Yeah and here is no meritocracy, here no appreciating talents. Until we need a thing calls TalentCorp to help Malaysia getting back talents yet still not really successful.

Oh why we still fail to fulfill the 60:40 quota? I don't know. Even the so many Education ministers also don't know how I know. When I was studying they already want 60:40 and what I see was/is good students go science, weak students go arts. And Science students become successful business persons, entrepreneurs, corporate leaders.

And Muhyiddin, we don't want so many science students who don't even know what science is about. It's not about the quantity, it's about the quality.

So I heard ministry is going to recruit only the top 30% graduates to be the teachers. Well I say let's open our eyes and see.

I only speak for myself from a narrowed point of view. I want Malaysia to be a better Malaysia. Change is very much needed.

Don't throw rubbish from your car - Part II

We have new winners! Congratulations to the drivers. Please claim your prize as soon as possible.

This is the prize for you to claim:

One mini  waste bin for you to conveniently keep your rubbish!

And the winners are:

JKA 7503

BKV 6086 with evidence

WUU 5822 

MBS 2673

NBF 7050

How to enter to win exciting prizes?

1. Drive any vehicle.
2. Throw rubbish from your vehicle.
3. If you are lucky, a photo of your vehicle will be taken and published here with no prior notification.

Terms and Conditions:

1. Make sure you wipe your vehicle registration plate so we can identify clearly. Void if number unclear.
2. We value your privacy; your face will not be published unless with consent.

Thanks to my new informer for submitting the first two photos. Please send me photos if you manage to capture them*. Thanks :)

I'm looking for future sponsors as well.

*Please do not risk your life. I'm not responsible for any injury occurred if the driver you captured realized you took a photo and stop the vehicle and come toward you to throw rubbish at your.

i'm lovin' it

02/12/12 @SS15. A laptop, a wrap and a latte. Assignment. It was a productive session :)
  Hey McCafe come to Melaka soon please. I have no money for Starbucks Coffee Bean.

A Reminder To Myself

To become a good educator.

Else this happens!

***

So I want to share a story of a professor I had for a short course on contemporary issues in geography.

Caution:
My points here can get over exaggerated.
I do not mean to defame this said professor, I treat this issue as a systemic issue prevalent in our education system in which she came from.

Please read with open mind.

"In KL no fresh oxygen, that's why I easily get sick here"
Alright, oxygen is oxygen. We can have fresh or polluted air but oxygen is oxygen.

"Pagi itu sunrise; waktu petang itu sunset"
Correct! But we are postgraduate students.

"Where we get our solar energy from?" She asked, I didn't answer because I'm confused and didn't know what she expect from us
"The Sun"
Again, correct! But we are postgraduate students.

"Males are more suitable to use Geographical Information System (GIS) because males' imagination much better than females"
Oh really?

We have this slide (she got from a random US university and presented to us unmodified) mentioning about UPS/Fedex shipments using GIS.
"Kalau tak ada GIS itu barang tak tahu akan belayar ke mana nanti..."
Yeah don't think she's making a pun and I think she get the shipment word out of context.

And this is classic, when she tries to say "air berkorbanat" in English
"Instant water" !

And
"BN, Barisan Nasiaonal is very helpful when there's flood, they help people"
"During BN, a lot foreign investment, but in states of Pakatan, foreign people afraid to invest there"
"During Dr Koh Tsu Koon Penang very good now under Pakatan very bad"
Hello I know you are BN supporter but keep it to yourself I know how to judge. Please speak with facts and figures not just follow blindfolded.

"There are many tornadoes and hurricanes in USA, don't know why, why always there? It could be because they legalized gay marriage, some people say"
I guess she wants us to believe so as well. Hello you are a geographer (?) and you can't explain the facts with geographical knowledege?

And
"selagi hari kiamat tak sampai, kita masih perlu belajar tentang penduduk."
Speechless...

And many more.

***

Not the end. The battle to educate Malaysians is a long long journey. Your help is very much appreciated to save Malaysia.

My Hobby

During primary school, teacher always ask us to write about our hobby.

"My hobby is eating. I eat breakfast in the morning, I eat lunch in the afternoon, I eat dinner at night. I love eating very much. I want to grow tall."

I never grew tall.

I still love to eat but my current hobby is changing laptop. I've lost count of the number of laptop I have owned. I should apply for Guinness World Records for the the record of "Person with Most Frequent Laptop Change". Even a guinea pig can claim a record with random thing so can I.

Anyway, since now I'm clueless looking at my assignment I want to post a success story to motivate myself.

I bought a laptop at RM650, used it for half a year, then sold it today for RM700. Life's great :)

Up up and away!

Title is random.

So what's happening toward the end of school year? 

Took a ferry to Pulau Besar for the first time to fish. First time fishing caught nothing though.

Just a beach at Pulau Besar

Then to Muar for a coffee. The long antennas are spectacular.

Then rewarded students.

Then cleared my Gemas house, moving. Some of my cereal boxes.

Then to Miri and Mulu and Niah.

Me doing silly face on boat to cave. The caves are spectacular! Photos could not capture the wonder of nature.

And actually went to Brunei but I was shocked it's not as developed physically as I  expected.
I thought Brunei is kind of like  a smaller and shorter Singapore but reality it's more like a Malaysia.

Then moved to Subang to continue 3 weeks Post Graduate Diploma in Education  courses. Quite a nice view to wake up  to every morning from First Subang suite.

So here's my 3 weeks @ Taylor University Lakeside Campus.

Fong Forward Barack Obama

So the news today is this Katy Perry with her sensational dress!

In case you haven't noticed, there's a big "Forward" on her tight dress.

And what's that brand? Who's this Forward desperate designer want to promote the brand it has to be printed so big on Katy?!  Definitely not Anna Sui or Calvin Klein or Armani.

What's Forward? Actually just a presidential campaign theme for President Barack Obama. Oh.

From "Change" to "Forward". Very sensible transition.
But Forward seems very familiar right?

Because it's my theme of life! FongForward! fongforward.blogspot.com!
my email is fongforward@live.com fongforward@gmail.com and all my laptops and PCs are named with Forward-PC or Forward-Laptop...many of my usernames are fongforward! I keep walking forward, looking forward, life goes forward.

So yeah, a pointless blog.

Hey have you upgraded to Laksa already?

I think everyone knows Android so I don't need to explain long long.

But do you know Android has its versions named after desserts?

Ants Being Cheated by Google...

1.5 Cupcake
1.6 Donut
2.0 Eclair
2.2 Froyo aka Frozen Yogurt
2.3 Gingerbread
3.x Honeycomb
4.0 Ice cream Sandwich
4.1 Jellybean

I don't even know what is eclair I have to google it while typing eclair just now. Good strategy from Google making more people use Google to search. Anyway I think Google should localize the name in each country.

So in Malaysia it would be:
Cendol Gula Melaka (or maybe Coconut Shake)
Dodol Gula Melaka (yeah Gula Melaka is nice)
Entahlah...(although Egg tart being suggested, but I think "entahlah" or "I don't know" is a legitimate dessert, because when people ask what you want to have for dessert? Many answer "I don't know entahlah")
Fried Banana (Pisang goreng)
Grilled Chicken Foldover (Yeah it's McDonald's, not even a desert, but I like it)
Hot Hot Tong Shui
Ice Kacang
Jagung

then continues with

Karipap
Laksa!

Ok I'm lazy to think further so that's it. It's hard to make the list.

Myvi VS Saga

What made me chose Perodua Myvi over Proton Saga?

These two cars are the best cars in Malaysia; why best because when you sell a lot it must be the best right? Like iPhone iPad are the best because millions people keep buying them. So Myvi and Saga are undeniably the best passenger cars!

But which is the best among the best? Hard choice.

I was leaning toward Saga before choosing Myvi because it's cheaper and even cheaper with RM2000 rebate at the time.

But when I saw this!

OH MY! UGLY!
I cannot tahan driving a car with such interior! Ugly dashboard! Ugly speedometer!
I might puke every time I drive it.
I want to convince myself to get a Saga but the more I look at it the uglier it become the more I cannot tahan.

Let's look at this Myvi...

Refreshing. Crisp. Clean. Lovely turquoise blue. Modern. Flush. Comfortable. Just nice.
So the deciding factor is just the dashboard. Yeap. Thank you Proton for making my choice easier.

Update: Soon after I announced the Saga has pretty ugly (see the oxymoron!) interior and dashboard, Nissan accepted the challenge and introduced Nissan Almera which now officially wins the ugliest dashboard competition*.

*Solely judged by me myself. No defamation intended. I'm poor and have no lawyer.

I'm Discharged!

Finally this morning the doctor said I can be discharged!

Was I admitted to hospital? No la, just that I have been on a routine visit to Melaka Hospital since June 2011. Why leh? Because it all started with a granuloma? or was it even a granuloma?

So after graduated need to work ma, then found a job with UOB Melaka they required medical check so I went lo who know the X-ray report mentioned a tiny granuloma, which in many cases are symptoms of tuberculosis. Oh no! Since it's their panel clinic I could get no advice and stuffs...ok. So I went to community clinic to do another X-ray scan and the Doctor A also seemed to agree there's granuloma but did not find other symptoms. No diagnosis. And then I was referred to Melaka Hospital and scheduled for another scan in October 2011.

And came October 2011 I went back to the hospital and had another chest X-ray scan and then another doctor, Doctor B, also seemed to find there's still the granuloma, hmm... And after all other check up also no symptoms of anything. This time the doctor requested a blood test though and scheduled to come back in April 2012. Still no diagnosis.

Then in November 2011 I had to do another medical check with X-ray before signing up to be a teacher...And it went fine, all OK, great! So I'm fit to be a teacher :)

And so April came and I went back for another X-ray (5th scan in less than a year, I guess I'm exposed to too much radiation I'm slowly becoming Superman). Doctor C found the scans same with previous and reported blood test normal and no symptoms for anything. Again the doctor said no diagnosis. Anyway just for precautions I was required to do more comprehensive blood tests, come back for another visit in October.

Last week after school went back for blood test. And the friendly medical personnel uncle drawing my blood asked me why not working in Singapore and tak sabar-sabar want to promote Singapore, said I would earn much more...why wasting time teaching here. Haha.

And then today I went back, did lung function test, then went to see doctor. This time Doctor D and another senior Doctor E. They checked and checked my reports and X-ray  images, then mentioned the previous scans seemed pretty normal actually and after more than one year of normal conditions, discharged.

So this past year I paid RM1 for first clinic visit, then RM5 for the Melaka Hospital visit, but I got free X-ray scans, free blood tests, free medical checks, not bad, not bad.

Why Kids Can't Stay Quiet During Exam?

Because they are not curious.

That's why Malaysia can't produce movie like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Instead we have so many KL Gangsters.

What's my reasoning?

Many kids are lazy, being used to be spoon fed, lazy, lack of imagination, lazy, lack of thinking skills, and lazy.

So during exam, when finished answering the questions, they started to want to talk with friends. Cannot tahan one, they must talk to friends, or whisper. Because they are lazy to use their brain to think about anything in life.

So today I went in front of the class and told them what to do after finishing your exam. First, look at your pencil case. Think: why the zip can zip zip zip? why you pull it zips? then opens?

Then look at your pencils? Why the red color? why the black color?

Then look at your table? Why why why?

Then look at the windows. What what what? 

How how how?

Think many questions, answer them yourself, think the solutions, think the possibilities. Imagination! Then you won't talk to friends. 

Don't be lazy! The more you use your brain the smarter you become.

And so the end.

My Weapons

These are the most potent weapons in the world!

Blue symbolizes serenity. It calms students, not really effective though.
Violet symbolizes power. It energizes students, too much sometimes.
Green symbolizes ecology. It makes students more eco friendly, hopefully they don't burn rubbish like their parents.
Black symbolizes boldness. It trains students to be bold in seeking knowledge.
Orange symbolizes orange. Students should eat more oranges.
Red symbolizes apple. A for Apple; students should get grade A.
Then why there's another blue there? Because blue is abundant around us, sky is blue, ocean is blue.

Angry Birds

So I heard some kids in this class were fighting earlier, and just happened I would relieve this class.

What should I do? Ah! Story telling! Angry Birds! Kids love Angry Birds.

After some classroom housekeeping, I told them I would tell a story, and then they started to sit tight and listened...

So here's the story: 'the pigs steal the eggs, the birds are really angry.'

I took out my Angry Bird print out...And asked a few kids to draw other birds with my colorful set of Pilot markers on the whiteboard. I'm bad at drawing.

Then continued my story.

'The angry bird calls his friends, all very angry, and then attack the pigs to avenge!'

'The red bird goes first, BOOM! bricks broken, score 2000 points!'
'Next up is the black one. BOOMM louder! a pig died! 5000 points!'

'And in the end all pigs died. And what happen to the birds?' 'They all died too!'

'The moral of the story...don't be angry, don't fight physically! In the end both lost...'

And the kids were actually really fascinated by my story telling, all their innocent eyes staring at me listening faithfully.

So and then I asked, what you gain from destroying the pigs?
One cheeky kid answered: Got money! (referring to the points scored)
Me said: So what can you do with all the money if you ended up dying?
...

Ha kids...

And so I hope no more angry kids in the school.

Keep calm and carry on?

There's one feeling that I hate the most.

Exhibit 1:
I ordered a laptop, then it's delivered while I wasn't around, so the UPS/Fedex guy put a note on door to say it would be delivered again the next day. I so want to get the laptop but there's no way to get it right at this moment! Just wait.

Exhibit 2:
My sister's phone broken, need to be sent in for warranty. But I'm not at home on weekdays and only can do it on coming weekend. I so want to send in the phone now and clear from my to do list! But I just can't do it at this moment! Annoying.

I'm a patience enough person I can stare at flower for one hour but this kind of "you can only wait and do nothing now" feeling just killing me...

Yeah, keep waiting and do nothing...

Smile

 I love teaching when students love learning :)

These photos are real, no posing.

Some little lighting lightens the room

I've added a table light to my room. Now it's warm and nice :)

And since we must Instagram every photo nowadays so I make some random effect on the photo as well.

*p/s: if you think this photo quite dark and underexposed, it's your eyes problem, go find doctor check check. Another possibility is your computer screen is very very dusty, yeah, just wipe and you see this photo bright like sunlight.

What made me post "I wish I'm back in USA again"?

Rihanna and her dress.

*Rihanna, please don't sue me for editing the photo. I have no money.
*Arizona, please send me one year supply of assorted flavored tea as I dedicated two posts for you. If I have more viewers I would have ask for life time supply. I'm being rational here. Thanks

I wish I'm back in USA again

Sometimes.

I love Malaysia. I love Melaka. But sometimes, just sometimes, I wish I'm back in USA, or Ann Arbor to be specific, because there are some great things there. Foods!

Yeah yeah I know people call Malaysia as food paradise but in the U S and A there are many awesome foods not available here.

One. Arizona Tea.

Cheap 99cents drinks. Best for drinking while doing exam revisions. Many flovors but the the Green Tea with Honey and Ginseng still the best! 

How I usually consume Arizona Green Tea? I decide the house is not suitable to study, so I walk to Dude or Shapiro Library, buy a drink, then read a bit, drink a lot, read a little bit more, then drink again. Repeat process seven times. Then the drink finished. Stomach very full. Cannot study anymore. Then pack up and go back home. So in the end I can never done revision and I have full stomach.

Two. Jimmy John's

$4.50 subs. Best is Totally Tuna :) Full flavored creamy tuna with crunchy cucumber and lettuce, juicy tomato and the best thing ever alfalfa sprouts wrapped in the best tasting bread! Omnomnomnom. Subway has no chance beating this! Maybe this is the best food ever created. 

Good for lunch, good for dinner, good for breakfast, good for supper, good for anytime, even in dream it tastes good. 

Three. Angelo's 

Angelo's in Ann Arbor is the favorite weekend brunch place :)

Simply amazing waking up in the morning taking bus then taking a stroll with friends to enjoy the hearty breakfast. Good food great atmosphere.

Four. McDonald's. Yes McDonald's. You read this correctly, McDonald's.

Yes. McDonald's. And I'm lovin' it.

Why?

Because they have iced coffee, vanilla or hazelnut flavored, and it's good coffee, and it's just $2.69

So instead of Coke I'll have iced coffee every time. And in the States they have dollar menu so I can have chicken burger or beef burger or TWO apple pies for $1.00! Imagine I can get all for just $5.69. One iced coffee, one chicken burger, one beef burger plus two apple pies. What I can get for RM5.69 back here in Malaysia? hmm, nothing much.

So look at what you can get for $5.69 in McDonald's

So many good foods. So many other great foods actually. Now I wish I'm back to Ann Arbor, not sometimes, but most of the times. 

lalala...I'm hungry.

Blackout!

This is a beautiful  glass candle. A present from student to my house mate teacher during Teacher's Day.

I received only cups and glasses without candle, so cannot use during blackout. 

What to do during blackout?

No internet, so dark, cannot do school works, so...

creepy me taking a creepy photo

rather uncreative :)

yeah, blackout is boring 

so slept rather early.

Don't throw rubbish from your car

One thing I cannot tahan the most is people throwing rubbish from the car.

Hello, please, so if I see you throw rubbish I will post your car here.

 MCC 6256 

 JGN 749

 Too fast, couldn't get clear picture

 JLV 4981

JKU 6421

And there are many more of these rubbish people that I missed capturing, because:

1. It is dangerous to take photo at high speed.

2. The phone is in my pocket, unreachable while driving

3. My sister missed one

So next time you see these cars around, just find any rubbish at roadside (You will definitely find rubbish because Malaysians like to throw rubbish everywhere one) and then throw inside these cars. Thank you very much.

Title is Irrelavant

I promise myself to be hardworking.

Has been slacking too much lately so posting this just to make my promise concrete, rather than just saying to myself but no action.

Yay, by posting this, my motivation to be hardworking is back. It's miracle.

New life, I'm back

I am back. Why? I have no idea, just like I have no idea why I'm teaching now. We don't need reason for everything :)