It's been a long time but I don't think I want to abandon this blog. This is what I do to de-stress so I definitely still need it. My job as a teacher is ranked at no. 5 on the most stressful jobs list in Malaysia. Believe me it's not even slightly what you think.

Anyway, I do hope that I am going to improve more next year. I know that I did improved some this year. I want to be a more cekap and berdisiplin teacher.

I have moved from Sabah to Selangor now. I love my new house and I can't wait to make it a home (just a few days left before we move in). I miss the comfort of old routines. I am anxious about my new school. It's a good school - ranks at no. 2 in my district for its PMR result (no. 1 goes to a science boarding school so there's no suprise there) but I can see that vandalism is a problem there.

Ok, new year; new life. Wish me luck ;)

PS: Suprisingly I miss my ex-principal's strictness haha.

Currently there’s a fiesta in the town I live in. It’s a three days fiesta and today’s the last day. The fiesta is called Pesta Gata (an abbreviation of Gasing / Tamu Besar). This fiesta is held every two years in the sleepy town of Sipitang. It is a truly big event for the locals here. Most locals can’t afford going to KK for some leisure and entertainment activities so whenever Gata comes the whole town is buzzing with excitement. Everybody dresses their best and wouldn’t be left out of anything relating to the fiesta.

On the contrary, I have not the slightest interest in going to the festival due to the spreading of H1N1 virus locally. Last Tuesday the principal at my school announced that a student from our school had tested positive for the virus. The number increase to three students in the following days. Mr. A’s school was also inflicted. Four students of his school were positive of the virus. However, these four students were affected by the virus when they were in Melaka (some two weeks ago) for a national event and haven’t been allowed to attend school.

In my opinion the state should’ve have cancelled the fiesta. I think the risk of the H1N1 spreading wildly easily increases with all the close proximity. I heard rumors that the local Health Department had advised against the fiesta but were brushed off because Gata is one of the main events in the Sabah Tourism Calendar.

You would wonder why my school hasn’t closed down yet. I think there’s a politic to it. I mean why go on with the fiesta if a local school has been closed down because of the virus right? I am afraid for the week to come. Pray for us.

PS: Mr. A had to go there today because he somehow in charge of one of the events. Luckily he was provided with a mask and he wore it all the way through.

PSS: H1N1 has been declared as a Phase 5 of WHO pandemic alert. The pandemic alert has only six phases.

I didn't sit at my desk for almost a week. It was so cluttered (with everything)! I don't know whether it's because I have too many irons in the fire or I am just disorganised. I can be so disorganised sometimes but sometimes I also can be obsessive-compulsive. Such imbalance roles! For the past few days I've been doing my work elsewhere - wherever I can squeeze in including colleagues' desks haha. It took me almost an hour to de-clutter the desk just this afternoon. Guess I have lots of catching up to do eh.

Strewn books and papers everywhere. Visible - my box of raisins for healthy snacking ;)

I was really angry at one of my students today. The incident happened first thing in the morning. While I was making rounds checking whether they have finished their homework or not, I noticed one of the boys wearing a chain around his neck with an animal tooth hanging onto it. I immediately asked him to take it off. He hesitated of course but then he seemed somewhat glad giving it up to me. Just a few minutes later, his classmates told me that it was a pig's tooth. How dare he! He is non-Muslim but I knew that he knew that pigs are haram to us Muslim. I threw the chain at his face and directed him to the principal's office immediately. I also gave him three good canings and asked him why he gave it to me knowing that it's a pig's tooth. He simply answered I was the one who asked for it. I told him that he could at least be courteous by telling me it's pig tooth so I could take it away by holding it between papers or other things! I really felt like killing this kid. I think what he did was so kurang ajar. He thinks he's a gangster of some kind. He never finishes his homework, he's a "sleeper" in class, and he talks a lot too. He's from the weakest class of the second formers. Some of the students from this class can't even read. Most of them are "hyperactive" - they can never sit still and never quiet. And they like to sleep in class. I've read that it takes all sort to make a world. I hate this sort.

PS: I had to "samak" my hands after that. Samak is a ritual cleansing done by Muslim whenever he or she (accidentally) touch animals (or animal parts in my case) haram to Islam such as pigs and dogs.

Sorry for this long break. The Internet was down for a few days last week; and the weekend before that was spent in KK. This post is really long so I’ve divided in into six parts. If you can’t finish reading in one go, please come back another day =)
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Part 1 – Our first furniture

I was so looking forward to our two-night trip to KK the previous weekend (11 – 13 July) but Mr. A ruined it to some degree when he forgot to bring the camera! I was so geram but we were already 30 minutes on the road when we realized it so we didn’t turn back. The trip to KK from our home would take a minimum of 2 hours.

It was a shopping trip… plus we need to do some banking on the 13th. As soon as we arrived in KK (and after we ate lunch), we went shopping in Parkson Grand in Wawasan Plaza. And we were done clothes-shopping! Suprisingly I can get all that I wanted in one place (and mind you that Parkson Grand was only a one-floor shopping haven).

One of the things on our shopping list was teak furniture. We wanted to buy our first set of dining table and some other things. We went window shopping for them mostly at Seri Jati (both in Penampang and Sadong Jaya) and Jamilah Furniture (both in Wisma MUIS and Putatan). We wanted modern wooden furniture. Like I’ve said in one of my previous posts, the decoration concept I’m going for is resort concept.

We were so happy to find exactly what we wanted. We bought two pieces of furniture – a dining table set and a sideboard. Both in dark natural colour. The dining table is huge for a six-seated. It actually fits eight. We are planning to purchase another pair of dining chairs when we get back in Selangor. And I am so in love with our sideboard. For now it acts as what it is but in our new home it will become our TV cabinet.

Our first very own dining table!

Kakak visiting.

The most fun people in my life right now - Kak As and Amir.

Am i fat or am i fat?

She did this all by herself. We have not yet teach her to draw caricature.

I don’t know whether I am a well-liked teacher or not. I am the kind of teacher whom makes sure there is an invisible gap between me and my students. I can be nice but I don’t want to be too nice. I don’t want my students to be clingy to me. I think kids love attention and I don’t like to give attention unnecessarily.

However, I do want students to think that I am a good teacher; a dedicated, dependable (to an extent), and caring teacher. I want them to be inspired by the things that I teach them; to be able to use English language as a tool to succeed and to have a high self esteem.

Other than teaching English, I also teach Pendidikan Moral to a class of first formers. I really enjoy teaching this set of students. Being budak kampung and still very young, they are eager to learn. They participate well in class even though sometimes they can be quiet mischievous! ( Today I caught one of the girls writing a love letter while I was teaching and she slammed the door on her way out).

Yesterday I was told by my Penolong Kanan Pentadbiran that starting next week I do not have to teach Pendidikan Moral anymore. So today I made the class worked hard. We covered two units (chapters) in two periods (which is a lot okay). I wanted to finish up the Bidang Pembelajaran 4 so the new teacher can simply start at Bidang Pembelajaran 5.

They wondered why I was in such a rush. Even though at first I didn’t want to tell them about them getting a new Pendidikan Moral teacher, I had to. Of course there were moaning and groaning and whining (don’t know whether they were being sincere or not). They told me they didn’t want a new teacher. When I asked them why, one of the girls answered (while giggling),

“Teacher lucu”

I couldn’t help feeling touched and proud *big smile*