INTRODUCING ABC KAMPUNG MELAYU TO TWO VISITORS

24th NOVEMBER 2018 ~ Someone from Kuala Lumpur was in Johor Bahru attending his friends' weddings. Even though he studied here in UTM many years ago, he had never tried the famous Kampung Melayu ABC, a short form of "Air Batu Campur" [translate: mixed (ingredients) shaved ice].

So how am I related to Mr. Amirul? He is an ex-student of my English class in UTM back in the second half of 2011, when I taught part-time there. We sometimes met to play ping pong during weekend and are still connected on Facebook. He was here with another friend whom I had not met before, Mr. Irfan.

It was really a very short gathering but hopefully there will be a next time.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT UHB SECTION 58 GROUP 2011 HERE.

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 ~

THE 20TH DAY OF SYAWAL

It was not the weekend yet but I was delightful there were already people coming over. This time, a batch of students from UTM came visiting which should be the first group to do so. I taught them English (specifically UHB 1412 course) two semesters ago. I do hope to see more of them, at least before they graduate from the university.

someone brought sate (from an open house)

Half an hour after that, another three ex-students from SPM batch 2002 were at house. They have left school for ten years already and they should be the oldest batch of ex-students who came visiting so far. (I don't think I will see any earlier batch of ex-students anymore.) Although it was already late, and all of them had to go to work the next day, I was always happy to entertain my ex-students at home.

delivering the invitation card ceremony

Someone is getting married very very soon and he was here to hand over the invitation card. This is how it should be done and not just by posting it on Facebook and expecting everybody to come. I guess we need to stick to some of our tradition despite the belief that we could save the environment by not cutting down all the trees in the world to produce the cards.

About one more week left, and there are still cookies in the jars, the doors to people's houses are still opened to welcome visitors.

A DINNER DATE WITH MR. MONITOR

This was just a short meeting with Ahmad Amsyar, the group representative of the English class I taught in UTM. It was just a dinner at McDonald's outlet in Skudai to thank him for all the assistance given throughout the semester. He sure was a helpful and responsible person and I was thankful that the classmates elected him as the class monitor. Thanks again Amsyar and may you succeed in the path you will chose (or have already chosen). Don't forget to invite me to play ping pong again next time.

By the way, to all the members of Section 58 of UHB1412 course, the overall marks for the course had been keyed in already. Good news: everybody passed! No worries, people and please enjoy your holidays.

THE LAST CLASS FOR UHB1412: SECTION 58

  22nd December 2011   ~ Suddenly it was the last class for the semester. Time really flew, fast. I was assigned to coach a group of 31 students from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. All of them were direct entry students who had completed their diploma courses and are now pursuing their degree programmes.

I was thankful that these people had displayed a great interest in learning English. I was satisfied with the assignments submitted and oral presentations done, and I believed that they had put a lot of hard work in carrying out the required tasks.

with the class monitor, Ahmad Amsyar

the last two groups after the evaluation of discussion activities at the library

It has been a pleasure to get to know these people and I do not know whether I would be able to see them again after this. Based on experience, sadly this will not happen once the class has ended. However, I really hope to see at least a few if they still ask me to join them in ping pong games in the future.

Thanks for the good time, everybody. Hopefully I have imparted some useful knowledge to you all and most importantly, they had learnt something from me. So, good luck guys and girls in the final exam and your future undertakings as well. May you all be successful engineers (or other professions of your choice) and don't forget me.

SHORT NOTES ASSIGNMENT FOR UHB1412

This is a special posting for students taking the UHB1412 and ULAB1112 course in UTM. I should have done this earlier but procrastination is the thief of time. By uploading my UTM students' excellent work in my blog, it can always be a good reference for students, for now and for always. Thanks to Shubana and Jovian for e-mailing me the files. Thank God, your work of arts is still kept safely in your computers and in good condition. :)

THE WORK OF SHUBANA VIJAYA KUMAR - COMPUTER SCIENCE AND IT FACULTY

THE WORK OF JOVIAN TAN CHEN CHIARN - COMPUTER SCIENCE AND IT FACULTY

MY LAST CLASS FOR UHB1412 THIS SEMESTER

Today was the last class for UHB1412 section 47 which comprised of students from the Faculty of Computer Science. I hoped I had done my very best in imparting the necessary knowledge which could be helpful in the years to come. All in all, they were a pleasant group of people to be with and I wish them the very best of luck in their future undertakings.

PUBLIC SPEAKING MARKS FOR UHB1412 [SECTION 47]

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, PLEASE CLICK TO ENLARGE.

MY UHB1412 CLASS THIS SEMESTER

It is already week 8 of my UHB1412 class. This semester, I am given a group of students from the Faculty of Computer Science. The faculty was located away from other buildings. At night, the place is quite dark and I pray hard not to have any encounter of the third kind.

a new building at the back

unknown students outside while waiting for the morning class to start

students were buried deep in their textbooks

The batch of people I teach this time are better than the one I had last semester, in terms of attitude in learning. Regular problem will be punctuality and attendance could not be that good at times but not as bad as it was last time. In other words, it is still tolerable. Just hope I don't have to issue any warning letter for attendance problem because I just hate the paper work.

MY ENGLISH CLASS IN UTM THIS SEMESTER

It is already the end of sixth week of the semester in UTM. This time, I have been given a group of students from "Fakulti Kejuruteraan Awam" - translate: the Faculty of Civil Engineering. My class comprises of 34 students, and there are more international students. There are people from Somalia, Turkey, Ethiopia, Palestine etc. One good thing about this faculty is it is easy to find a parking space even in the bright daylight. But the negative side of it, if for example, I need to have a replacement class at night and need to book a room, I have to write in and ask for permission which is definitely a tedious task to do.

a few minutes before 8 in the morning, my car is the only one visible at the parking lot

There is a big change for the course taught this semester. Students have to use new textbooks and there is a change in the course outline, content and evaluation. Therefore, I have to do some homework before going to class. There are also listening activities which require the teacher to carry the notebook, speakers (and extension wire) to class but I enjoy this session a lot because in a way someone else is reading for me from the CD. I wanted to shift the classes at night like what I used to do before but the students insisted to carry out the lessons in the morning. Nevertheless, the irony of it, attendance up until now is very poor (if compared to my previous classes) and people always come late every time.

We are almost halfway through the semester but I am still hoping for things to improve. Or perhaps, should I be a stricter teacher, like I am in school?