THE 23RD DAY OF EID [PART TWO]

FRIDAY, 30th AUGUST ~ Two ex-students. Mohd. Aliff (SPM 2007) and Mohd. Ariff (SPM 2009), who are siblings, came visiting for Eid, as usual with their parents and younger sister who have now become family friends. Aliff will be going to Terengganu to continue his first degree this coming Sunday while Ariff will be flying back to Kuching for a new semester. Too bad everyone was occupied with Eid celebration, if not we could have spent some time for an outing session.

The next group to arrive (a few minutes before midnight) was another group of ex-students from SPM batch 2010 - Rashid, Haniff, Khaidir, Amali and Faiz Azizi. I taught only one of them English but they were all active members of "Kadet Bomba", except one who was in a different uniform unit. All of them are still studying but they are still either enjoying their semester breaks or undergoing their practical trainings.

They used to come in a bigger group but as expected, once everyone has grown up and has his own path to follow, it is not easy to see them together at the same time. And I wonder, how much longer this group could last.

HARI RAYA POTLUCK IN SCHOOL

FRIDAY, 30th August ~ We had a potluck session in school today to celebrate Eid which is already coming to its end. We had food like "nasi himpit" (compressed rice) and "lemang" (rice cooked in bamboo) with dishes like "lodeh", meat "rendang" and chicken "kuzi", and a whole lot more that I couldn't remember.

I managed to control my food intake as I had classes after recess and was quite occupied after that. I think there should be a few more potluck sessions before the long school break in November.

"People who love to eat

are always the best people."

~ JULIA CHILD ~

THE 23RD DAY OF EID [PART ONE]

Another office staff invited me to join in the fun on the 23rd day of Eid. It was held before the Friday prayer so I had no problem attending. It was my first time going to her place but I am already quite familiar with that part of Taman Mutiara Rini by now.

Too bad I had to rush to the mosque right after that so I could not join the "Gossip Girls" right until the end. Thanks to Puan Hamimah for inviting and don't forget to invite again next year.

THE 22ND DAY OF EID

Two ex-students from SPM batch 2010, Mr. Ahmad Baihaqi and Mr. Mohd. Firdaus, came visiting this evening. I met Baihaqi earlier in school and asked him when he would be coming and he said "tonight". That was easy and there was no need to get a busload of other people as a prerequisite to come visiting.

 

 

One good thing about people coming in a much smaller group is that I can always focus to each individual, the chat will be more elaborate and detail, and it is more relaxing. Of course it is more fun to get a lot of people to come visiting at the same time but I find I will not be able to speak to everyone and sometimes the visitors will be more actively involved in conversation among themselves rather than with the host.

Anyway, thanks Baihaqi and Firdaus for coming after a few days of not having visitors. And surprisingly it was Baihaqi's first visit to my house and hopefully that will not be the last.

I LIKE THE UTM SPACE LIBRARY VERY MUCH

This is the library in the UTM SPACE building. Yes, it has a building of its own which is located just behind Ampang Park shopping centre where there is an underground LRT station.

I had the chance to use the library for the group discussion activity and I was really impressed with its modern design. The library is not that big but the place is just - MODERN. I am sure there are many other facilities available here but I just used the meeting room with the students.

 

I wish my school could have one like this.  

When I have become filthy rich, like that is going to happen, I will make sure my house will be installed with a library like this.

MY UTM SPACE ENGLISH CLASS THIS SEMESTER

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to teach English (UHB1412) to a group of UTM's SPACE (part time) students in Kuala Lumpur this semester. I had the experience of teaching the same course to the full time degree students in the main campus but this was something totally new.

All the students are career men and women, and some are married with kids. I had the experience of doing my master degree part time so I know how hard it is actually to juggle between study and work. While others are enjoying their time, these people have to sacrifice their weekends to attend lectures, other than spending hours studying and doing assignments. However, nothing is impossible because determination is the key to success.

We had our last class on Sunday, 18th August which was the 11th day of Eid so people were still celebrating even in class. We had a few activities such as the evaluation of group discussion and writing and someone had not yet done his oral presentation.

oral presentation

Most of the time, I am dealing with students in school so to get an adult group to attend to will be something interesting which I don't get the chance to do every day. Undoubtedly, there was the extra income but the experience and the chance to teach as well as to meet new people are priceless.

I do not know whether I will see them again in the future as I don't even know whether I will be offered the same job again. So thanks everybody for the cooperation during our classes and I wish you all the very best of luck in completing your studies in UTM.

"When the student is ready,

the master appears."

~ Buddhist proverb ~