REALLY, IT IS THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS

I was greeted with a bar of chocolate on the table as I entered my room. It was a birthday present from a student, Amirah Hassan. I was truly touched and this showed that a present is not measured by the prize and size. It is really the thought that counts. There are approximately 2800 students in school but, Amirah, you are the only person who had gone the extra mile to do this for me.

hopefully it is i-pad inside :)

And as I was about to leave my class, I was presented with another birthday present. It was from the siblings, Christina Jane and his brother, Christopher Emmanuel Raj (see, I remember your full name), an ex-student who is now an undergraduate of UTM. This came as a surprise, a pleasant one that is.

So to Amirah, Christina and Christopher, from the bottom of my heart, thanks a lot for the presents. People like you have always made my life as a teacher a wonderful one.

... AND ANOTHER YEAR OLDER

birthday cake from Puan Nor'ashikin and Mr. Mustafa Kamal

Thank God, this year there was no cutting the cake with people clapping hands and singing birthday song. That might look joyous to people observing but quite embarrassing to the person being celebrated, to me at least. I feel like people are happy to know that I am getting older.

birthday cake from Puan Maznah and friends

Celebrating one's birthday should not only be limited to that actually. We must realize whatever wishes received on our birthday are actually prayers for us, and Allah is kind enough to grant them. And with modern inventions, like handphones and Facebook, we could easily pray for one's well-being on his/her birthday.

"pulut kuning" with "serunding" topping from Puan Noraliza

I was happy to see many people - friends, colleagues, students and ex-students, had taken the effort (and trouble) to post birthday messages on my FB wall. It looked like a reunion session was taking place as I started to see people whom had been missing in actions suddenly popped out on my PC screen on my birthday. I tried my best to respond to each and every message I got, some with just one line while a few with lengthy exchanges of messages back and forth.

the boys sharing the same birthday

So thanks everybody as well as those who sent birthday wishes on sms. If you had sent mms or whatever thing that could only be accessed with hi-tech gadget, sorry my phone is the cheap one. I kept getting messages that read: 909 message cannot be displayed.

Thanks also for the two cakes given. And thanks to Puan Noraliza Mazni for the mini potluck held today, with the "pulut kuning" and "bubur kacang". And thanks Puan Nadzlina for the beautiful birthday present. May Allah repay all you kindness.

AN IN-HOUSE TRAINING FOR THE ENGLISH TEACHERS

It is actually not that easy to gather all the English teachers, both the morning and afternoon session, at one time. As the PMR exam is still going on, we managed to hold a short in-house training for the members this afternoon. Three teachers had gone for courses outside so they were here to share and impart the knowledge they had acquired. And one of the most important things was that the teachers who are about to teach the form one students next year had to download some educational software which need to be used in classrooms.

Everybody was happy that the session ended early but the downloading took so much time that it had to be continued the next day. We should have some kind of refreshment after the training so that people would be happier.

A QUICK TOUR AROUND INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA - PART THREE

After the faculty, we quickly continued with the journey around campus to a few more places before I had to get my 6:00 p.m. bus back home to Johor Bahru.

What does this represent, I wonder? Anyone?

A late lunch of lasagna IIUM style

the entrance to the administration building

the main campus entrance

SULTAN HAJI AHMAD SHAH MOSQUE

the open ablution area

The last place that we stopped at was the Sultan Ahmad Shah Mosque which is located in the centre of the campus. Although at that time it was quite late for Zohor prayer (at about half past three) but there were many people in the praying hall. If they were not performing their prayers, people were sitting in small groups carrying out discussions. Most probably because of its strategic location, it was a good meeting place for the campus community.

souvenir from KAED IIUM

That was the end of my short stay in IIUM, which lasted for about 3 hours. Although it was brief, I believed that my friend had shown me the important places of the university. I hope that I have inspired my students enough and many of them will go there to further their studies in the future. Go and surf the net for further information of the courses available on your own.

So thanks a lot to my friend Mr. Abdul Razak Sapian (I am trying to get informal here) for (i) showing me around the campus even though he was still fasting for 4th day of Syawal (2) giving me the lunch treat (3) giving me a souvenir to take back home (4) sending me all the way to the old KTM station even though I insisted to be sent only to Gombak LRT Station. I will not forget your warm hospitality and hopefully we can meet again some other time.

ATTENDING PUAN MAHNUM'S SISTER'S WEDDING

All the staff were invited to Puan Mahanum's sister's wedding in Taman Universiti. Being one of the coolest and longest serving non-academic staff, it was not a surprise to see many friends were there. It felt like a school event being done outside school, especially with the presence of our camerawoman, Puan Yasirah, busy snapping pictures of friends and their family members.

Too bad I could not stay longer but I guess everyone was excited not only to come to Puan Mahanum's house but also to see each other during the reception.

INTRODUCING "THE KING AND I" TO 2KP1 STUDENTS

Friday, 7th October ~ It was the 2KP1 students' turn to watch another classic movie entitled "The King and I". This was definitely the best time to carry out this activity as we had the whole day without any distraction.

computer lab cum movie theatre

I hope it was another pleasant experience which they could always remember. And here are a few comments from the students posted on FB wall.

Nur Nasrin; "I like the movie especially the King but the singing parts were boring."

Flora: "I like all the cute children."

Rishi: "The movie was interesting and I like the funny parts."

Nurul" "I enjoyed watching the movie and it was very interesting."

A QUICK TOUR AROUND INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA - PART TWO

The second part of the tour around campus focused more on the faculty where my friend, Dr. Abdul Razak is teaching, the Kuliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design (KAED).

Dr. Abdul Razak outside his second office...

... and inside

the beautiful interior that displays traditional Malay architecture

the spacious foyer that could be used for other function such as wedding receptions

at the main entrance

I managed to meet another friend who is teaching (English) there, Puan Norhasni Yaacob. Actually there is another one, Dr. Ridwan Wahid, but I could get hold of him on that day.

To be continued in Part 3 soon...