When Is Mother's Day?

When is Mother's Day in Malaysia?

In Malaysia, Mother's day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May every year.

Mother's Day Date

Different countries celebrate Mother's Day on different dates. Check out the exact date for Mother's Day in your country from the list of Mothers Day dates 2010 given below and start preparing for a big surprise of love for her.

Mother's Day 2010
Country	Day	Date
India	Second Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
United States	Second Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
Australia	Second Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
Belgium	Second Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
Brazil	Second Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
Canada	Second Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
Denmark	Second Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
Finland	Second Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
Germany	Second Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
Greece	Second Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
Italy	Second Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
Japan	Second Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
New Zealand	Second Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
Singapore	Second Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
South Africa	Second Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
Turkey	Second Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
Sweden	Last Sunday in the month of May	May 30, 2010
Austria	First Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
Hong Kong	First Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
Netherlands	Second Sunday in the month of May	May 9, 2010
Taiwan	First Sunday in the month of May	May 2, 2010
Hungary	First Sunday in the month of May	May 2, 2010
Portugal	First Sunday in the month of May	May 2, 2010
Spain	First Sunday in the month of May	May 2, 2010
United Kingdom	Fourth Sunday in the month of March	March 14, 2010
Romania	First Sunday in the month of May	May 2, 2010

Why Were After If?

The word ‘were’ after ‘if’

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED by FADZILAH AMIN -THE STAR

I’M A little confused on how and when to use the word “were” after the word “if”. Must “were” be used after “if” in any circumstance? The attachments were taken from newspapers here on the use of ‘if’ and ‘were’. – Marc Ong

No, “were” need not be used after “if” in all circumstances, only in some. There are so many other verbs in the English language that can be used in the past tense in second conditional sentences when we are talking about an unlikely or impossible situation. Here are some examples in which the simple past tense of verbs other than “are” are used in the if-clause with “would” in the main clause:

“If I had wings, I would fly.”

“If you lost 100kg in a week, you would really be slim.”

However, in second conditional sentences beginning with “I”, “were” is usually used instead of “was”, for example in:

“If I were you, I would not buy that car.”

“If I were young again, I would try to be a professional tennis player.”

Writing Good Memo in Business Communication

Tips for Writing a Good Memo in Business Communication

Business writing differs significantly from article or academic writing. Business communication is generally in the form of reports, policies, instructions, procedures, memos, letters, orders or rules & regulations. Memos are business letters but only for employees & used within an organization.

Memos are used to give information to employees such as changes in some procedures or rules, policy change or for specific purpose like request to attend a meeting. The format of the memo differs from business letter format. Memos generally contain sections like to, from, date, subject & text of memo.

Points to remember while writing a memo:

If you are sending memo to specific person, then you should write correct name of the reader. You can write job title along with name to make it more formal.

Subject should not be vague or unclear. It should be brief & specific, which can give an idea about the purpose of the memo.

Generally, memos do not contain salutation or complimentary closing.

The text in text section of memo should be concise, clear, to the point.

Avoid use of long and complex sentences that contain too much information. Short sentences make your message more readable and understandable. You can use headings & bullets to make your memo easy to read.

First paragraph in text area or opening paragraph should contain background of the problem & purpose of the memo. Memo’s recipient should get an overview of the memo by reading the first paragraph only.

In next paragraphs, you can explain the steps you have taken or methods and sources you have used to solve the problems.

Last paragraph should be the closing segment, where you can request your reader to take an action to solve the problem. Some people use conclusion at the end of memo to summarize the content. Conclusions are also useful for suggestions and recommendations or if you wish to make a request to the reader.

If there are any attachments, always mention at the end, after closing segment.

Always proofread your memo before sending it. You can use software programs, which are available for business writing, for proofreading & to check and correct English grammar & spellings in your memo. Some software programs enrich your text with adjectives & adverbs, which enhances the simple sentence into more professional and sophisticated one & suggest context related synonym for repeated words.

For information on business English writing software please visit

http://www.truevalue4money.com

MUET Clinic

Dear students,

I will conduct a MUET class today at 4pm. Those interested please be at A11 - 4pm today.

Thank you

From The Secret

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne

From The Secret Daily Teachings

Most people don't realize how much passion they put into what they don't want. When you speak to a friend and you tell them all about an "awful" situation, you are putting passion into what you don't want. When you react to an event negatively, with the response that it is "terrible", you are putting passion into what you don't want.

You are a beautiful passionate being, so make sure you direct your passion wisely.

May the joy be with you,

hehe!

I like.... hehe... so cute right?

I am guilty of that too... ngeee...

Malaysian English

Hey all...

I just want to introduce my friend's blog

http://malaysian-english-for-dummies.blogspot.com

Learning & Teaching English : How to Teach Adults English As a Second Language

Persuasive Essay

Writing a persuasive essay is much like preparing for a debate. You need to study your persuasive essay topic from various perspectives, establish your main argument and gather supporting evidence. You also need to know how to write a persuasive essay, namely how to organize parts of the persuasive essay in the way that will work best.

Try the following instructions on how to write a persuasive essay. They are indispensable in writing a well-planned and thoroughly considered persuasive essay.

1.Start with an Impressive Lead-In

The introduction of your persuasive essay is the first words you utter to render the readers to be well-disposed to you. Moreover, it is by the introduction that the reader decides whether to go on reading you essay or leave it in peace. Thus, the introduction of your essay should be attention grabbing and impressive enough to induce the reader to read further on.

Writing a persuasive essay, you need to pay particular attention to the first sentence you are going to write down, namely a lead-in. It is the most important part of the whole persuasive essay, out of which you come out either a winner or a loser.

To write a strong and impressive lead-in, try the following strategies:
7.start with an unusual detail;
8.put a strong statement;
9.quote a famous person;
10.introduce a short and up-to-the-point anecdote;
11.open the essay with a statistic or fact;
12.start with an emphatic rhetorical question;

Before deciding on one of the strategies, try all of them. You will be surprised to find out how different strategies can enrich and smarten up the introduction to your persuasive essay.

After you have put the opening sentence, be sure to introduce a sentence that will show that you see both pros and cons of the subject matter under consideration. Then write a thesis or focus statement, which has to reveal your own point of view. A well-formulated thesis statement is the key to success, as it is the central part of your essay, around which all other parts are organized.

Remember that a good introduction should be brief, concise and end with a closing sentence that will be transitional to the next paragrath.

2.Support Your Thesis in the Body

The body of your persuasive essay is the main part of your writing where you present supporting evidence and elaborate on the reasons you stated previously. The body should be a proof that you have researched and examined your persuasive essay topic and that your arguments are reasonable and reliable.

In order to prove your thesis statement and dispel the opposing arguments, you need to: 1) state the facts of the case; 2) prove your thesis with arguments; and 3) disprove your opponent's arguments in three consecutive steps.

Statement of facts is a non-argumentative presentation of details, summaries and narration concerning the problem discussion. In this part of the body you should present supporting evidence without stating your own point of view and trying to persuade the readers in it.

First, you should remind the readers of some events, provide vivid illustrations that will show the significance of the topic. Statement of facts should be clear, brief, and vivid. If you obscure the facts, you are defeating the purpose. Thus, delete irrelevant information and information which contributes little to the reader's understanding.

After you've introduced some facts, you can get down to proving your thesis with arguments. This should be the longest section and the central part of your persuasive essay. With the readers rendered attentive by the introduction and informed by the statement of fact, you must show why your position concerning the facts should be accepted and believed.

Now comes the time to deny the truth on which the opposing argument is built. Be patient in thinking over the refutation. It is the most difficult stage that needs time, concentration and absorption.

The proven way to hook readers' attention is to leave your strongest argument for last so that to leave them with your best thought.

3.Write a Memorable Conclusion.

Your conclusion should be a "mirror image" of your introduction. It means that you should refresh the reader's memory and remind him of the thesis statement you put in the introduction. It is not a mere waste of time or words, but the best way to convince the reader to take your side.

As well as in writing the introduction, you can try several ways to write a memorable conclusion for your persuasive essay.

Except for restating the introduction, you can summarize the main points to enable the readers to recall the main points of your position.

A nice way to conclude the persuasive essay is to write a personal comment or call for action. It could be: 1) your prediction; 2) a question that will let the readers make their own predictions; 3) your recommendations to solve a problem; 4) a quotation. It's up to you to decide!

The last line of your persuasive essay, that is the "tag line," needs special attention, for it is the second most important line after the lead-in. Thus, it is important that it:
4.renders the readers to be well disposed to you;
5.magnifies your points;
6.puts the readers in the proper mood.

Once you have put the full stop after the "tag line", your work is over. But make sure that the words you have put in your persuasive essay will be "working" long after your readers stop reading it.

written by: Linda Correli

Public Speaking – The Art of Speech Making

Public Speaking – The Art of Speech Making

How do you speak naturally while all those people are watching you?

This document covers hints and tips on public speaking and presentation skill, dealing with public speaking nerves and anxiety, public speaking skills and public speaking techniques, public speaking training.

Common Fears of Public Speaking

What happens when you have to speak in public?

Did you know that public speaking tops the list of phobias for most people? Not spiders or heights – public speaking – speech in public!

Well, if you didn’t know that, we bet your body does. It will do all kinds of unpleasant things to you when you have to stand up and face a sea of faces with the hope of getting your message across in a compelling and interesting way.

Your hands may sweat and your mouth goes dry. Your knees may shake and a quaver affects your voice. Your heart may race and those well known butterflies invade your stomach.

When all that happens most people don’t think of getting their message across in a compelling and interesting way; they just think of getting off the ’stage’ as quickly as possible!

Have we frightened you sufficiently yet?

It’s normal

We don’t really mean to frighten you, just remind you that your body reacts ‘in extremis’ when put under pressure, and for most people, public speaking is just about the worst pressure they can be put under.

It’s normal to be nervous and have a lot of anxiety when speaking in public. In a way, it’s less normal not to have nerves or anxiety; in fact, to feel you have a phobia about public speaking.

Why do we get Public Speaking anxiety?

Fight or flight

Our bodies are geared to fight or flight from ancient time – fight that mastodon or get the hell out of the way. We don’t have too many mastodons around these days, but the body still reacts as though we do. So, if we have to get up and speak in public, all that adrenalin and noradrenalin goes coursing through our bodies – way more than we need.

We can’t run away (well, we could, but we’d be out of job pretty quick if we did it too often), so our only option is to fight. But in terms of speaking in public, it can be hard to define just what we’re fighting.

Why does public speaking do this to us?

Good question. You’d think that for most people, being given the opportunity to impress their audience would be a fantastic one. There you are in front of a group of people, the spotlight is on you and for the length of time you’ve been give, the world is yours.

Or is it?

The very fact that the spotlight is you is enough to trigger every fear, anxiety and phobia you’ve ever had about public speaking.

Here’s why

You may be judged by all those people, and judged badly
You may feel like a fool
You might make mistakes and loose your way
You’ll be completely humiliated
You’ll never be as good as _________ (fill in the blank)
‘They’ won’t like you
‘They’ won’t ‘get’ what you’re trying to say

How to overcome fear of Public Speaking
What good are Nerves

Public speaking may not be comfortable, but take our word for it, nerves are good. Being ‘centre stage’ is not a good place to feel too comfortable.

Nerves will keep you awake and ensure you don’t get too complacent. Hard to feel complacent when your heart is beating so hard you’re sure everyone watching you can hear it.

If channelled well, nerves can make the difference between giving a humdrum presentation and giving one that keeps people listening.

Get your attention off yourself

It’s very tempting to keep focused on how you’re feeling, especially if you’re feeling really uncomfortable. You’ll start to notice every bead of sweat.

To make your nerves work for you, you need to focus on just about anything other than yourself. You can distract yourself by paying attention to the environment in which you’re speaking and seeing how you can make it work for you.

Once you’re actually in front of your audience, pay attention to them. If you can, notice how people are dressed, who’s wearing glasses, who has on bright colours. There will be dozens and dozens of things you can pay attention to help you trick your mind into not noticing what’s going on with you.

Anything will do and you will find that the less you concentrate on how you are feeling and the more you concentrate on other things, the more confident you will feel.

How to build confidence in Public Speaking

Your audience can be your friend

Unless you know you’re absolutely facing a hostile group of people, human nature is such that your audience wants you succeed. They’re on your side!

Therefore, rather than assuming they don’t like you, give them the benefit of the doubt that they do.

They aren’t an anonymous sea of faces, but real people. So to help you gain more confidence when speaking in public, think of ways to engage your audience. Remember, even if they aren’t speaking, you can still have a two-way conversation.

When you make an important point pay attention to the people who are nodding in agreement and the ones who are frowning in disagreement. As long as you are creating a reaction in your audience you are in charge.

Keep them awake

The one thing you don’t want is for them to fall asleep! But make no mistake public speaking arenas are designed to do just that: dim lights, cushy chairs, not having to open their mouths – a perfect invitation to catch up on those zzzzs.

Ways to keep them away include

Ask rhetorical questions
Maintain eye contact for a second or two with as many people as possible
Be provocative
Be challenging
Change the pace of your delivery
Change the volume of your voice

Public Speaking Training

Get a coach

Whatever the presentation public speaking is tough, so get help.

Since there are about a zillion companies out there all ready to offer you public speaking training and courses, here are some things to look for when deciding the training that’s right for you.

Focus on positives not negatives

Any training you do to become more effective at public speaking should always focus on the positive aspects of what you already do well.

Nothing can undermine confidence more than telling someone what they aren’t doing well.

You already do lots of things well good public speaking training should develop those instead of telling you what you shouldn’t do.

Turn your back on too many rules

If you find a public speaking course that looks as though it’s going to give you lots of dos and don’ts, walk away! Your brain is going to be so full of whatever it is you’re going to be talking about that to try to cram it full of a whole bunch of rules will just be counterproductive.

As far as we’re concerned, aside from physical violence or inappropriately taking off your clothes, there are no hard and fast rules about public speaking.

You are an individual not a clone

Most importantly, good public speaking training should treat you as a unique individual, with your own quirks and idiosyncrasies. You aren’t like anybody else and your training course should help you bring out your individuality, not try to turn you into someone you’re not.

Hints and Tips for Effective Public Speaking

Here are just a few hints, public speaking tips and techniques to help you develop your skills and become far more effective as a public speaker.

Mistakes

Mistakes are all right.

Recovering from mistakes makes you appear more human.
Good recovery puts your audience at ease – they identify with you more.

Humour

Tell jokes if you’re good at telling jokes.
If you aren’t good, best to leave the jokes behind.
There’s nothing worse than a punch line that has no punch.
Gentle humour is good in place of jokes.
Self-deprecation is good, but try not to lay it on too thick.

Tell stories

Stories make you a real person not just a deliverer of information.
Use personal experiences to bring your material to life.
No matter how dry your material is, you can always find a way to humanise it.

How to use the public speaking environment

Try not to get stuck in one place.
Use all the space that’s available to you.
Move around.
One way to do this is to leave your notes in one place and move to another.
If your space is confined (say a meeting room or even presenting at a table) use stronger body language to convey your message.

Technology

Speak to your audience not your slides.
Your slides are there to support you not the other way around.
Ideally, slides should be graphics and not words (people read faster than they hear and will be impatient for you to get to the next point).
If all the technology on offer fails, it’s still you they’ve come to hear.

You can learn to enjoy public speaking and become far more effective at standing in front of a group of people and delivering a potent message.

When it comes to improving your public speaking skills we have three words:

practise, practise, practise!

Jo Ellen and Robin run Impact Factory and have trained thousands of people in the art of Public Speaking for events from Wedding Speeches through to Key Note Conference Speeches.

Ace that interview By CHRISTINE JALLEH

For my INK 226 students...

Ace that interview
By CHRISTINE JALLEH

There are several things you can do to create a good impression during a job interview.

WOULD you be free for an interview next week?” Congratulations if you have just received such a phone call. For the job-seeker or the student applying for a scholarship, this is an important stage towards achieving your goal.

Now that you’ve got your foot in the door to the application process, your next step would be to convince the interviewer or interviewers that you are the candidate they are looking for.

Before you put on your colour-coordinated suit and shiny shoes, be sure that you are prepared for the interview ahead.

What is an interview?

Bruce Elder, the author of Communication Skills, defines an interview as “a meeting of persons face to face for a particular purpose in which one asks questions that the other is expected to answer.”

While interviews are still conducted to get answers to questions, today’s interviews can range from the one-to-one, panel, face-to-face, telephone to even an online chat or Starbucks café interview!

Whichever the situation, always remember that the interviewer(s) have arranged to talk with you because they like what they see on your cover letter and resume. Now, they would like to get to know you better.
Be confident: Always remember that the interviewer has arranged to talk with you because she likes what she sees on your cover letter and resume.

The first impression

The interview begins the moment you step into the room even if no questions have been asked.

Everyone gets a first glimpse of you and immediately, a first impression is formed.

Here are some common positive and negative comments after meeting a candidate:

“I think she forgot to iron her shirt!”

“Is he auditioning for American Idol? I thought we were looking for an accounts executive, not a rock star.”

“She looks so worried! I’m worried if she can do the job.”

“He looks friendlier in person. He looks so serious in his photo.”

“She looks so confident. I like her.”

Some of the comments may seem unkind but that’s the reality of first impressions.

Put your best foot forward by appearing friendly, calm and confident. Remember your parents’ advice: smile and sit up straight!

The interview

Before going to the most important part of the interview, the interviewer(s) would introduce themselves and their roles in the organisation.

Then, they will ask a few questions to put you at ease:

“Have you had your lunch?”

“So ... you’re from Penang. What are your favourite hawker foods?”

“How did you come here? Could you easily find our office?”

“You have such an unusual name. Is it a Malay name?”

Relax and answer the questions as briefly and as best as you can.

Even if these are casual questions, take note that the interviewer(s) are evaluating you and your answers.

Now is not the time to share your gastroenteritis problem or your dislike for hawker food (unless you can recommend other appetising alternatives).

Questions and answers

After the introductions, the interview will begin in full swing.

The interview is your chance to demonstrate how capable, intelligent and dedicated you are while the interviewers want to see if you’re a good fit or representative for their organisation.

Most of the questions will seek to discover your abilities, past experiences and your approach to people, tasks, responsibilities and most importantly, dealing with difficult situations.

Interview questions can be neutral:

1. Tell us about yourself.

2. What do you know about us?

3. Where do you see yourself in five years? Ten years?

4. Who has influenced your life and why?

They can also be questions inviting positive answers:

5. Why do you think you are the right candidate for this position or scholarship?

6. Tell us about a personal achievement that makes you proud.

7. What are your strengths?

But they can also be questions inviting negative answers:

8. What are your weaknesses?

9. Tell us about a mistake that you made and what you learned from it.

10. It’s very difficult to work with different types of people. Describe an experience where you had a conflict with someone and the results of the situation.

It’s easy to look your best when you answer the neutral and positive questions but the negative questions can be the deciding factor that differentiates you from the rest.

More and more organisations are looking for people who can handle both pleasant and painful situations.

Be prepared for such questions and think it through before you give your best answer of how you positively handled that prickly situation.

Don’t forget to dazzle them with your charming personality – show them that friendly, kind or funny person your family and friends know you as.

Here are some links to:

Job interview questions and answers

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/interview questionsanswers/a/interviewquest.htm 50 common job interview questions and answers

http://www.eveandersson.com/general-comments/attachment/1565/50interviewqas.pdf

Sample scholarship interview questions and answers

http://opsf.byu.edu/Advice/ScholarshipInterviewQuestions.aspx

One vs many

The one-to-one interview is still quite common but the more popular practice is the panel interview.

Even if you are expecting a one-to-one interview, be prepared to speak with a group of three or even five people.

One of my first job interviews involved talking to four people who were seated in chairs scattered across the room – thankfully, I remembered my manners and greeted each person individually. I also took care to remember each person’s name and looked at everyone when I answered their questions. Needless to say, I was hired!

You may also be interviewed in groups of three or four by a panel of interviewers. Even if you need to stand out from the other people you are interviewed with, you can still be cordial and courteous with each other.

The final flourish

The interviewer or interviewers will signal the end of the interview by asking if you have any questions.

“Does my work experience fit into the needs of the organisation at this time?”, “Are my qualifications and skills suitable for the position?” and “Is there anything I could do to improve my chances for this position?” are some questions recommended in the book Communication Skills.

Other useful questions include, “What is a typical day/week like for this position?”, “When can I expect to hear from you?”, “Will travel be required for this position?”, “Will training be provided for this position?”

In most cases, you will be asked about your expected salary and given a summary of staff benefits. Do hold off these questions until you are offered the job.

Here is a link to other suitable questions to ask during a job interview:

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/interview questionsanswers/a/interviewquest2.htm

Remember to thank the interviewers for their time and follow up with a phone call or an e-mail to find out the outcome of the discussion. All the best!

Christine Jalleh is a communications specialist with a Master’s degree in English Language Studies. She blogs about communications, culture and travel at http://christinejalleh.com

Today's Quote

Motivation is what gets u started
Habits is what keeps u going

A Week Later

It has been a week since my last post! I've been busy (what a cliche excuse) with work and also because this blog can no longer accept anymore photos adds the laziness to update this blog.

Anyway, lately I've been reading a lot about our National Education Blueprint which really gives me clearer understandings on our education in general. Education is such a big agenda in our Ninth Malaysia Plan and not to forget the latest one; GTP - Government Transformation Programme.

It is really interesting to see how our government has invested a lot in education.

erkk.. this post is not going anywhere.. haha.. need to continue on my readings..

see ya!

What Should I Do?

This blog account has reached its limit for photos. It means that I can no longer upload photos (not even 1 photo actually) to this blog. 

What should I do? Are there any other ways that I can use to put photos here?

I just don't want to delete any of the photos from my previous post.

arrghhhh... !

Outstation

Where is Miszsensei? I haven't seen her for the past few days..

Owwhh.. she is outstation

That's the common usage of 'outstation' in our country and that is not how we convey the message that the person is actually out of town. So, let's see the explanation I got from Mind Our English - The Star

The word “outstation” is not used in modern standard English to mean “out of town” or “out of the capital city”, although some Malaysians use it to mean that. It was a British colonial word, when there were still main trading stations and outstations, which is defined by the OED as “a station at a distance from headquarters or from the centre of population or business.”

The modern meaning of outstation (outside Australia and New Zealand) is “a branch of an organisation situated far from its headquarters.” (Concise OED 2009)

What Is Love?

Terms of endearment
By LUCILLE DASS

Although love defies description, this has not stopped writers and poets from waxing lyrical about the subject.

NO, the headline doesn’t mean the 1983 romantic comedy-drama film. It’s that time of the year. The splendour of love is in the air. Also, apt I thought, to embrace and celebrate LOVE as an antidote to the spectre of racial and religious taunts that harm social cohesiveness and the inherent Malaysian spirit.

Cole Porter’s song title asks, “What is this thing called love?” (note to teachers: an excellent question form to use for meaningfully varied punctuation and oral practice). We could respond with Frank Sinatra’s “Love is a many splendoured thing.” Indeed, love is a definition-defying entity since it has no particular form. Yet, its felt existence and particular experience empowers and continues to inspire endless definitions and descriptions.

Love, if we’ve experienced it, is neither manipulative nor abusive; it is humanitarian and seeks the good of all; it heals and restores relationships – “Love heals all.” Love transcends the politics and angry polemics of the day; it transcends physical attraction and emotion, beyond the ‘feel good’ factor, to empower an ascent of one’s spirit to a peak that is restorative in essence. This singular capacity and quality of love within our being is reason enough to celebrate the cause and course of love.

Love has been the cause for the rise and fall of many in history – both individuals and institutions – since essentially, love is relational, a quality, that has inspired a treasury of expressions on the essence and effects of love. It has also given us a list of intriguing terms of endearment used by loved ones to refer to their significant other, depending on the object and nature of love in question – romantic, familial, spiritual, humanitarian, aesthetic or patriotic. And, with apologies to the French, the language of love belongs to all, because according to Dr Gary Chapman, “The craving for love is our deepest emotional need ...” After all, we are all created in God’s love.

One of my favourite quotes on the immeasurable depths of love comes from Kahlil Gibran :

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.

Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;

For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, “God is in my heart,” but rather, “I am in the heart of God.”

This finds a bold parallel in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables: To love another person is to see the face of God. Divine love turns to “divine madness” when you fall “madly in love” and transform into “lovebirds.” Even Friedrich Nietzsche concedes: There is always some madness in love. But there is always some reason in madness. In turn, Don Byas squarely states: You call it madness, but I call it love. Blindness is another common characteristic attributed to love. Here’s a refreshing take on the “Love is blind’ cliché, by Will Moss: Love is not blind ... it sees more and not less, but because it sees more it is willing to see less. Makes sense.

Apart from the literary giants’ great works on the subject of love, the Good Book is equally rich on the subject since (like all faiths) love is the key to Christian life. The biblical chapter “Song of Songs” celebrates the beauty, sanctity, mystery, and power of love. Perhaps, the chapter from 1 Corinthians 13 is better known to many for its description of what constitutes and does not constitute love. The chapter is equally distinctive for the ranking of spiritual gifts and summarily states: In short, there are three things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love.

On terms of endearment employed, again, Kahlil Gibran strikes a soulful note with his “Eve of my heart”, and “A column of light”. A quote of his that both flutters the heart and tugs at its heartstrings is his description of his beloved: a beautiful tune on the lips of life (when alive); a silent secret in the bosom of the earth (when dead).

On the lighter side, the French have an interesting list, which amounts to “Darling”, “Sweetie”, “Poppet”. Here’s a sample to pick from: “Mon amour” (my love), “Mon ange” (my angel), “Mon bébé” (my baby), “Mon cher/Ma chère” (my dear for masculine/feminine), “Mon chéri/Ma chérie” (my dearie), “Mon Coeur” (my heart), “Ma belle” (my beautiful).

The list also features some barnyard animals. Terms that have been farmed out include, “Ma biche” (my doe), “Ma caille” (my duck), “Mon chaton” (my kitten). Other animals include hen, rabbit, otter, wolf (yes!), even pig and flea (reminds you of “love bug”, no?) Well, the annoying insect has even inspired a French farce, “A Flea in her Ear” by Georges Feydeau) – dwells on love (and sex).

Not to be outwitted, the English language has its own stockpile you can choose from. Categories range from heavenly bodies to earth-bound flora and fauna, and more. Popular on the list are “Darling”, “Love”, “Beautiful”, “Dear” (I had an uncle who endured unto death [no pun intended] the “dear” endearment that turned into “Listen dear”), “Honey”, “Sweetheart”, “Baby doll” and the like. “Angel”, “Star”, “Twinkle”, “Sunshine”, and “Dove”, have also made their heavenly descent.

Next, the bakery yields choice pastry, like “Cutie-pie”, “Cookie”, “Shortcake”, “Muffin”, “Cupcake”, “Honey bun”. Other food/vegetable/plant/fruit favourites include “Pumpkin”, “Sweet pea”, “Buttercup”, “Peaches”, and “Sugarberry”. From the animal world you can pick “Kitten”, “Duckie”, “Tweetie”, “Pet”, “Sugar bear”, or “Tiger” – apt too, if you make your match in the zodiacal year that began on Valentine’s Day!

Body parts, especially the face, surfaces above all with: ‘Angel eyes’, ‘Angel face’, ‘Sweet face’, Sweet lips’, and ‘Baby face’. Then in sheer abandonment to midsummer madness, nonsense words take on sense: ‘Koochie-koochie’, ‘Pooch’, ‘Mooch’, ‘Buttons’. Better still, create your own sweet nothings, ‘tis the season after all.

Cancellation of Credit Card

The best and effective way to write a letter for cancellation of credit card:


Cancellation of my Citybonk Credit Card

I would like to cancel my Citybonk Credit Card, number 0909090999, with immediate effect.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

(Your full name)

The Most Romantic Word

“AMOUR”, the French word for love, has been voted the most romantic word in the world in a pre-Valentine’s Day survey of language experts.

It narrowly beat “amore”, the Italian word for love, although Italian was named the world’s most romantic language. Italian words also dominated the top places in the list of most romantic words.

“Bellissima”, which is both Italian and Spanish for “very beautiful”, was voted the third most romantic word, while “tesoro”, which is both Italian and Spanish for “treasure” (as in “Mi tesoro”/“My treasure”) came fourth.

The survey was conducted by London-based Today Translations which polled over 320 of its linguists.

After Italian, they found the second-most romantic language was French, which was way ahead of Spanish and English in joint third place.

In the same poll, the firm asked its linguists to pick the least romantic-sounding way to say, “I love you” in any language. The winner was Japan’s “watakushi-wa anata-wo ai shimasu”, ahead of the Welsh “rydw i’n dy garu di” and “qaparha”, which, the firm noted, is Klingon, as spoken in the Star Trek universe. – Reuters

Be Grateful

If you make time to list all the things you are grateful for, and you feel the feelings of gratitude, you will feel amazing every day. Your frequency will be high and you will move through your days in love with being alive, bringing joy wherever you go, positively affecting one person after another.

When you live a life like this, everything you want will come before you even ask.

May the joy be with you,



A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret

Minutes of Meeting

PART of my duties is as a note-taker during meetings. I am not sure how to prepare the minutes. For example, should I use the past tense? I’m really confused. My boss doesn’t really care much about the tenses. He is more concerned that everything discussed is written down. Also, should it be “Minutes of meeting” or “Meeting minutes”? – Rahemah

To answer your later question first, we usually write “Minutes of the Meeting held on ...” as a heading for the minutes.

Minutes of a meeting are normally written in the past tense, because the minutes are written after the meeting is over, based on the minute-taker’s notes during the meeting.

By FADZILAH AMIN - The Star - Mind Our English

Affect or Effect?

I HAVE commented before on the wrong use of the words “effect” and “affect” by many Malaysians and here’s one I found in The Star’s SMS your views on page N36, Feb 14. Under the heading, “Crippled sub” was the message: A submarine not capable of diving is considered crippled. Major or minor defect, it effects the efficiency of underwater operations – Subra.

The correct word is: affects.

I think The Star should not publish any text messages, letters or reports that contain any mistakes as this may mislead people, especially students studying English, into thinking that all printed texts are correct.

– Hussaini Abdul Karim - The Star - Mind Our English

From The Secret

Whatever feelings you have within you are attracting your tomorrow.

Worry attracts more worry. Anxiety attracts more anxiety. Unhappiness attracts more unhappiness. Dissatisfaction attracts more dissatisfaction.

AND . . .

Joy attracts more joy. Happiness attracts more happiness. Peace attracts more peace. Gratitude attracts more gratitude. Kindness attracts more kindness. Love attracts more love.
Your job is an inside one. To change your world, all you have to do is change the way you feel inside. How easy is that?

The difference a little punctuation makes

The difference a little punctuation makes

Dear John:

I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I can be forever happy – will you let me be yours?

Gloria


Dear John:

I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For youhttp://nurullah1.com/olderblog/, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we’re apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?

Yours,

Gloria


source:http://nurullah1.com/olderblog/

Great speech: Adrian Tan on Life and How To Survive It

Great speech: Adrian Tan on Life and How To Survive It

This convo speech by Adrian Tan, a Singapore lawyer, is becoming viral online. Reposted here as a record of what makes a great speech.

source: http://blog.trinetizen.com/wordpress/?cat=18

This convo speech by Adrian Tan, a Singapore lawyer, is becoming viral online. Reposted here as a record of what makes a great speech.

Life and How to Survive It

I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.

My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.

On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.

Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.

And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you’ve already won her heart, you don’t need to win every argument.

Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.

The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You’re done learning.

You’ve probably been told the big lie that “Learning is a lifelong process” and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters’ degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don’t you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.

The good news is that they’re wrong.

The bad news is that you don’t need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You’re in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.

I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean
the average life span of a group of people. But I’m here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.

You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan, and tied with San Marino. It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There’s very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and
restful nap.

Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.

So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you’ll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.

Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they’re 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn’t meet their life expectancy.

I’m here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.

After all, it’s calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.

Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.

That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.

If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don’t need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.

What you should prepare for is mess. Life’s a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.

Don’t expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.

What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.

Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.

The most important is this: do not work.

Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.

Work kills. The Japanese have a term “Karoshi”, which means death from overwork. That’s the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there’s nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.

There’s a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are “making a living”. No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.

People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan “Arbeit macht frei” was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.

Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.

Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.

I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn’t do that, I would’ve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction – probably a sports journalist.

So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don’t imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I’ll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.

Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don’t, you are working.

Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth.

I’m not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.

In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.

I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many.

That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.

One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it’s often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one’s own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.

The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.

I didn’t say “be loved”. That requires too much compromise. If one changes one’s looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.

Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. We’ve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work – the only kind of work that I find palatable.

Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.

Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn’t happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.

You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart. You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.

Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.

Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.

You’re going to have a busy life. Thank goodness there’s no life expectancy.

Is or Are?

‘Is’ and ‘are’ confusion

COULD you please tell me which of these sentences are correct?

1a. There is an apple and a mango on the table.

b. There are an apple and a mango on the table.

2a. The meeting lasted two hours.

b. The meeting last for two hours.

3a. Alice is good at Mathematics.

b. Alice is good in Mathematics.

c. Alice is good at / in cooking.

– Ho Lee Tyng

1. THE correct sentence is (a) “There is an apple and a mango on the table.” The “be” verb after “There” in this sort of structure agrees with the first noun, when there is a list of nouns mentioned. Since the first noun “apple” is singular, “is” is used after “There”.

If the first noun is plural, like “apples”, for instance, the plural verb “are” is used:

“There are several apples and a mango on the table.” BUT

“There is a mango and several apples on the table.”

2. The correct sentence is (a) “The meeting lasted two hours.” We can also say “The meeting lasted for two hours.”

Sentence (b) is incorrect because the singular subject “meeting” does not agree with the plural verb “last”; and also because the sentence ought to be in the past tense, since you won’t know how long a meeting is going to last until it is over.

3. Sentence (a) “Alice is good at Mathematics.” is correct. When we use “good” to mean “skilful”, it should be followed by “at”.

So, sentence (c) should use “at” as well: “Alice is good at cooking.”, but you can also say “Alice cooks well.” or “Alice is a good cook.”


source: mind our english - the star

When To Use Be, Been & Being

Be, been and being

By FADZILAH AMIN - thestar.com.my



WHAT is the difference between be, been and being?

Could you describe when and how to use them especially in academic writing? – IF



“BE” is the base form of the verb “be”; “been” is the past participle of the verb “be” and “being” is the present participle of the verb “be”.

“Be” is used whenever the base form of a verb needs to be used, for example after an auxiliary verb, e.g. in “You should be a good example to your younger siblings.”

It can also be used in the infinitive form of “be” as in “He wants to be an engineer.”

“Been”, like past participles of other verbs, is used to form a passive verb and also the present perfect and past perfect tenses, e.g.:

“The bag-snatcher has been arrested.” (passive sentence with passive verb “has been”)

“My parents have been a source of strength to me all my life.” (“have been” is a verb in the present perfect tense)

“She had been hungry all day until I brought her some food.” (“had been” is a verb in the past perfect tense)

“Being”, like present participles of other verbs, is used to form the present continuous (progressive) tense and the past continuous tense. Here are some examples:

“The little girl is being difficult, crying all day, because her mother won’t buy her a doll.” (“is being” is a verb in the present continuous tense)

“He was being friendly to her, but she thought he was trying to flirt with her.” (“was being” is a verb in the past continuous tense)

I am sorry, I can’t be more detailed than this, since space is limited. I have just given you some basic explanations and a few examples. You can consult a grammar book for further information. You need to be grammatical when you write, whether for academic purposes or other purposes.

There are also different kinds of academic writing, depending on what subject you are studying.

To All FACEBOOK Lovers... Be Prepared For This...

Another redesign for Facebook on 6th birthday

NEW YORK: Facebook is redesigning its site yet again, this time to better emphasize applications, games and search.

Links and items have moved around the home page as Facebook tries to streamline navigation and make games and apps stand out more.

The latest evolution continued Friday after Facebook started rolling the changes out late Thursday, the company's sixth birthday.

The changes were being made in stages, so not all users were seeing them right away.

The world's largest online social network has continuously morphed its home page as it's grown from a closed hub for college students to a Web and mobile destination for 400 million people worldwide.

Past changes have sparked protests from many users, though Facebook says it makes them to serve its audience better.

Facebook says that it conducts months of testing and that many users request such changes.

With the latest redesign, links to friend requests, messages and comment notifications are no longer scattered around and now reside on the top of the page.

On the updated site, the search box stands out more.

Microsoft Corp., which powers Facebook search and advertising, said Friday in a blog post that search results on the social site will go beyond just links to include "richer answers combined with tools that help customers make faster, smarter decisions."

Under a new agreement, Microsoft will run text ads next to Facebook search results worldwide, rather than only in the U.S. as was the case before.

However, Microsoft loses the right to sell display ads - the online billboards that command more money than search ads, but aren't as lucrative yet.

Facebook will now sell those ads directly.

Facebook's chat feature also becomes more prominent with the redesign. Users can now see friends who are currently online without clicking on a link.

This doesn't include all friends, only the ones they communicate with often.

There are also new links on the left that take users to online dashboards where they can organize games and applications and find new ones by seeing what their friends use. Games such as "Farmville" and "Mafia Wars" have surged in popularity on Facebook. - AP

the redesign will take place in stages... my friend's FB in Australia is no longer the same as ours.. we gonna have the new face of FACEBOOK soon...

No More Photos... uhuksss

Hi all...

I am having a little situation here...
This blog of mine has reached its quota for uploading photos!
Oh nooo! A post would be bland without a photo to spice it up... this is so sad...

Dear blogspot I need more storage for my photos pleaseeeee!

Tired of Your Life and Job?

this is the remedy.... enjoyyyy...

Caused & Was Caused By

Idioms: The Bank Teller

ON my first day at work as a bank teller, the manager called me to his room and said in the tone of a father giving advice to his child: “Always be alert and careful when you are handling cash. Avoid small talk with the customer when you are counting money lest you lose your concentration and incur a cash shortage. You may be a teller, but you don’t have to say much most of the time.”

I nodded, and he continued: “Make a point of being courteous to every customer – remember that every bank account is of account. Courtesy is good for the person you’re dealing with, good for your own well-being, and certainly good for the bank’s balance sheet. Try to get more ‘smileage’ out of your work.”

Before he ended the conversation, he added: “I hope I can safely rely on you to work extremely hard.”

“I think I can depend on me to do my level best,” I said.

When I returned to my ergonomically designed work station, the chief cashier handed me a bundle of money and said: “Count this bundle of one-ringgit notes to make sure there are one hundred pieces.”

“May I use the machine to count the pieces?” I asked.

“No, you may not,” he said in a measured tone. “Count them manually. With practice, the task of counting paper money will soon be a piece of cake for you.”

Later, I related the counting chore to another colleague during our lunch break. “When I counted up to sixty-four, I said to the chief cashier: ‘If it is right this far, it’s probably right all the way. I’m returning the bundle to you now.’”

“I don’t believe you said that to the chief cashier,” he said. “You are pulling my leg, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” I said. “I’m just trying to relax a bit.”

As I was about to leave the bank that day, I overheard the manager ask the chief cashier: “How is the new teller doing?”

“I think he will soon reflect in his work the confidence the management has in him,” the chief cashier replied.

“Ah,” I thought, “that’s music to my ears!”

Small talk: Light conversation on unimportant matters.

Make a point of: To treat (something) as important.

Do one’s level best: To make one’s best effort.

Make sure/certain: (i) To confirm. (ii) To ensure. (You should go early if you want to make certain of getting tickets for the show.)

(A) piece of cake: Something very easy to do or obtain.

Pull someone’s leg: To make fun of someone in a friendly way, especially by trying to make him believe something untrue.

Music to someone’s ears: Something very pleasant for someone to hear.

Why We Need Sex Education

I found this article on the net... It was quite an old one but it's the best article that I can get hold of that gives clear explanation on the need of sex education in school..

I especially like the part .. not falling for the “if you love me, you will have sex with me”

here is the full article..

We all need to face facts that our young people are having their first sexual experience at an earlier age and have a shallow understanding of HIV. Not only that, we read of gang-rapes, unwanted teenage pregnancies, baby dumping and even stories of teenagers being totally unaware that they are pregnant until they deliver. Sex education is not only about the mechanics of sex but also learning how to respect our bodies and one another. It need not encourage promiscuity, but properly taught can encourage abstinence till marriage and not falling for the “if you love me, you will have sex with me” line. It is needed to encourage responsible sexual behavior and avoid unwanted pregnancies, STDs and HIV/AIDs. One last point — parents should not just leave it to the teachers but take it upon themselves (no matter how embarassing) to have frank discussions of responsible sexual behaviour with their kids. After all we want the best for our kids and want to protect them in every possible way, don’t we?

source

Moral vs Morale

Don't get confused with moral and morale. Both have different meanings.

Morale means a state of individual psychological well-being based upon a sense of confidence and usefulness and purpose whereas Moral means:
# concerned with principles of right and wrong or conforming to standards of behavior and character based on those principles; "moral sense"
# the significance of a story or event; "the moral of the story is to love thy neighbor"
# psychological rather than physical or tangible in effect; "a moral victory"; "moral support"

List of 20 High Performance Schools: My Primary School Is Listed! Yeayyy!

The hot topic among teachers for this past week is High Performance School! To my surprise, my primary school that I attended (like millions years ago) made the list! Really proud of that school! Long live SK Zainab 2! yeayyy!

Here is a news excerpt...

List of 20 High Performance Schools


PUTRAJAYA, 25 JAN, 2010: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today announced that 20 schools - 14 secondary and six primary - had been accorded the status of high performance schools or Sekolah Berprestasi Tinggi (SBTs).



Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, said of the 14 secondary schools, 10 were fully residential schools and the rest day schools.


"These schools were chosen from among schools that showed outstanding performance in the field of academia, co-curriculum and niche areas.


"The schools will be guided and monitored closely to ensure they continue to attain even higher levels of performance," he told reporters at his office here today.



The 10 fully residential schools are Sekolah Tun Fatimah (Johor Bahru), Sekolah Dato' Abdul Razak (Seremban), Malay College Kuala Kangsar, Sekolah Seri Puteri (Cyberjaya), Sekolah Menengah Sultan Abdul Halim (Jitra).



Kolej Tunku Kurshiah (Seremban), Kolej Islam Sultan Alam Shah (Klang), Sekolah Menengah Sains (SMS) Tuanku Syed Putra (Perlis), Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah (Putrajaya) and SMS Muzaffar Syah (Melaka).



The four day schools are Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) (P) Sri Aman (Petaling Jaya), SMK Aminuddin Baki (Kuala Lumpur), SMK Sultanah Asma (Alor Setar) and SMK (P) St. George (Penang).



The six primary schools are Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Seri Bintang Utara (KL), SK Taman Tun Dr Ismail 1 (KL), SK Bukit Damansara (KL), SK Zainab (2) (Kota Bharu), SK Convent Kota (Taiping), SK Bandar Baru Uda 2 (Johor Bahru).



At the same time, Muhyiddin stressed that SBTs were not elite schools which benefited only a limited number of students.



Instead, he said each school in the country had the same opportunity and a level playing field to be recognised as SBTs.



"Any school that meets the targets of excellence and criteria set (by the Education Ministry) will be recognised as a SBTs and get the same privileges," he said.




Muhyiddin said the ministry targeted to have 30 SBTs by next year and 50 in 2012.



He said the rationale in having SBTs was to raise the quality of the best schools in the country to be world class, produce outstanding students and narrow the gap between schools within the system.



He said SBTs would be given additional autonomy to pursue innovation in school management and raise the productivity of students.


As for curriculum, he said, it would be flexible in terms of teaching and learning as well as syllabi for compulsory and elective subjects, conforming to public examinations and use of the national language as the medium of instruction or multiple languages.



Beside these, Muhyiddin said the schools concerned were also given leeway in fixing the minimum periods for subjects, extending schooling hours and allowing students to complete their studies a year earlier, just like the express promotion system that was introduced previously.


In terms of budget ownership, he said a lump sum grant would be channelled to the schools at the beginning of each year and that they would have the full flexibility to spend as needed and were exempted from the ministry's centralised procurement system.



"Every school has its own budget, but with this status, they will be given additional funds and they can use the money as needed," he said, adding that the grant might be less than RM1 million but had not been fixed yet as this depended on the size of the SBT.



He also said management of staff at these schools would be based on meritocracy and not seniority, besides flexibility given for the paying of overtime and performance incentives.



"There will also be flexibility to re-assign under performing staff and delegation of functions based on academic and non-academic reasons," he said.

source: http://www.malaysiandigest.com/news/36-local/1831-list-of-20-high-performance-schools-sbt.html

Anything or Everything?

Sometimes we got confused which one is to be used... is it anything or everything?

Here is an article I took from Mind Our English

WHICH is the better sentence? We should never ever give up on everything that we do. OR We should never ever give up on anything that we do. I think it is the second sentence, but why is that? – MOE reader

You are right. The second sentence is better. This is because “anything” is usually used in a negative sentence, and both your sentences are negative.

“Everything” is better used in a positive sentence, e.g. “We should be wholehearted in everything we do.”

by:FADZILAH AMIN

What Is TESL?

My new friend inspired me to come up with this entry, thanx Marni!

She suggested that I put lots of TESL stuff in this blog to generate more hits... waaahhh great idea.. I never thought of that before!

So, for start, let's have the meaning of T.E.S.L first;

TESL is an acronym for Teaching of English as a Second Language.

ESL (English as a second language), ESOL (English for speakers of other languages), and EFL (English as a foreign language) all refer to the use or study of English by speakers with a different native language. These terms are most commonly used in relation to teaching and learning English, but they may also be used in relation to demographic information.

Cute!

can you see the blue circle.. can you guess what is that in the circle...



it's a little teddy bear hanging just below the plate number... it looks so cute!

Thank You Redmummy

Well... c'est la vie... life must go on... though I have yet to receive any sort of compensations from the travel agency... this blog must go on right? hahaha...

special thanx to redmummy.com for this



due to an entry in redmummy.com regarding the photo issue.. this blog received almost 400 hits!

What Would You Do

What would you do if the above photo ends up in this brochure...



without your permission...



a free trip to Beijing courtesy of the company would do.... hmmm...

Please Don't Hate Me For Posting This...

Happy Monday morning people... I just love Mondays... full of possibilities for the week ahead... challenges and adventures to be experienced...



how about this for an early monday morning breakfast.... hahaa...



and also this..... yummmeeeyyhhhh...


happy working all... just be thankful that we have a job that can support us n our family...

The Time Is Now

"The way to get things done is to stimulate competition. I do not mean in a sordid money-getting way, but in the desire to excel." Charles Schwab

I'm going to try that with my students, do you think it is going to work? hmmmm.....

New Semester

New beginning...

to all of my students...

Wanted... Who? What?

Happy Friday people!

Weekend is just around the corner.. what is your plan for this weekend?






Trying to find a wife? Or a maid? or fishing partner? hehehehe

Arghh... Men...

Yes John, you are really 'helping' Sheila... haha....

Latest Attraction At Our House

Hi readers, I'm Bubu.. let me out of this cage..... meoww...



this is not the same Bubu that we had before.. we are baby sitting him just for a few days.. his mommy went to KL..



careful.. you might get yourself electrocuted..



one of his favourite place.... trying to get our attention...



another favourite place..



monkeying around... what is that yellow thingy?



euwww! he got himself in a fight on the second day he was here... poor Bubu.. don't know how his mommy going to react... huhu..

How To Become A Famous Blogger

haha...

Farah Gets Lost At The Pasar Malam

I came across this book while reading The Star just now.

This is a good English book for children not only for the sake of improving one's English but also for the lesson that could be learned from the story.

i.e what to do when you get lost
how to get help from others

This kind of book is not only for children, I would recommend this type of books to those who wanted to improve their English no matter what age group you are in.


Farah Gets Lost At The Pasar Malam

Author: Shafina Abdul Hamid

Illustrator: Z. Q. Bak

Publisher: Beanstalk Enterprise, 18 pages

IN this book Farah accompanies her parents to the pasar malam. Her mother asks the little girl to stay close but Farah is distracted by some trinkets and wanders off. Presently, she realises that her parents are nowhere to be seen. Farah panics but luckily, a kind stranger turns up to help her. Farah Learns The Joy Of Sharing continues this new series that aims to teach “life lessons” to children. The stories end in lists, instructing children how to behave.

01012010

A bright new day
Hoping for a brighter year ahead



HAPPY NEW YEAR!