Buka Puasa at SMK Seri Mutiara

On 26th September I was also invited to the "Majlis Berbuka Puasa" organized by the "Panitia Pendidikan Islam SMK Seri Mutiara".

Also present are Pengetua of SMK Seri Mutiara, Puan Halimah and many of the school teachers as well as some of the PIBG members, Mr Lim, En Mohd Khairi, Ms Shereen Pan and Mr Tony Siew.

There were many foods left too. Hope everyone has enjoyed that evening.

LANTERNS

Went to Leisure Mall Cheras on 20th September. Note that some of the display of "Tang Lung" were made from recycle items.

GANGSTERS RECRUITING STUDENT

Another big issue for me as I read through the news today.

To all students out there PLEASE REMEMBER your PARENTS LOVES YOU. Please do not be lure into this trap......

To all parents please work hand in hand with the school, PIBG of the school and the police.

Thank you


Thursday September 25, 2008

Gangsters recruiting students with Genting holiday offers

KULAI: Gangsters have been offering holidays to Genting Highlands as perks to lure teenagers from a school here into joining them.

At least seven students from SMK Kulai Besar are believed to have been targeted by the gangs recently.

Deputy Education Minister Dr Wee Ka Siong said the students were approached after they left the school compound.

He said he was stunned to hear the methods employed by the gangs, including the holiday offers.
“The gangsters have also demanded fees of RM2.10 from the students,” he told a press conference after chairing a meeting at the school with parents, teachers and representatives from the police and the state education department.

He said five reports had been lodged at the Kulaijaya police station over the matter. The police have been asked to conduct daily patrols outside the school compound.

He urged parents and students who have been approached by gangs to lodge a report, givinge an assurance that police would ensure the safety of the students.

Kulaijaya OCPD Supt Zulkefly Ahmad said the public could contact Insp Khairi Salleh at 012-964 2462 or the state police hotline at 07-2212 999 if they come across gangster-related activities.

Put an end to bullying problem in schools

Hello,

Another extract from the Star News. Yes, we have to join our hands together to put a STOP to those bullies. BUT how is a question.

If everyone is fearful then I will say CONGRATULATION as these will go on and on.

Any parents or students had encounter these problem please voice out.

Let the Ministry/police/school be aware of these.

SCHOOL is a place for LEARNING not for SAMSENG OR FIGHTING .




Monday September 15, 2008

Put an end to bullying problem in schools

THE report, “Boy: Teacher watched as students beat me up,” (The Star, Sept 12) left me feeling angry and disgusted at how a preventable incident like bullying is swept under the rug.
As a former victim of school yard bullying, my heart goes out to the Form Four kid who went through this ordeal.

I also praise him and his father for coming forward with this matter.

At the same time, I would like to ask where is the justice when those 20 students who beat him up over a trivial matter are allowed to get away with their bad behaviour scot-free.

Unless these students are reprimanded and dealt with, they are likely to do the same thing to another student which may cause severe injury or death.

The teacher who chose not to come to the boy’s aid as well as having the cheek to tell him not to report the matter, is only giving all good teachers a bad name.

A teacher’s role is not only to impart knowledge in the classroom but to uphold good examples by condemning bad behaviour.

This teacher has let the victim down by letting the bullies get away. My question is whether this teacher only cared about defending the school’s reputation or was the teacher a coward who could not stand up to those 20 bullies?

There is no denying that bullying in Malaysian schools have become rampant and this makes parents and caregivers worry about their children’s safety.

All communities, relevant authorities and the Education Ministry must tackle the bullying problem in schools.

Bullying and violence do not deserve any place in a learning environment.

Moreover, we need to get to the root of the problem and find out what drives students to bully another student otherwise they are likely to continue doing this in their adulthood and are likely to end up becoming terrors on our streets like the samsengs and gangsters of today.


S. YIN,
Auckland, New Zealand.

STRESS

Stress

A lecturer when explaining stress management to an audience,Raised a glass of water and asked 'How heavy is this glass of water?'

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, 'The absolute weight doesn't matter.

It depends on how long you try to hold it.

If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.

If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.

If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.

In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.

'He continued,'

And that's the way it is with stress management.If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later,

As the burden becomes increasingly heavy,

We won't be able to carry on.

''As with the glass of water,

You have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again.

When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.

''So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down.

Don't carry it home.You can pick it up tomorrow.

Whatever burdens you're carrying now,

Let them down for a moment if you can.

'So, my friend, Put down anything that may be a burden to you right now.

Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while.

Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

* Accept that some days you're the pigeon,And some days you're the statue.

* Always keep your words soft and sweet,Just in case you have to eat them.

* Always read stuff that will make you look goodIf you die in the middle of it.

* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can beRecalled by their maker.

* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again,It was probably worth it.

* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply be kind to others.

* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, Because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

* Nobody cares if you can't dance well.Just get up and dance.

* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

* The second mouse gets the cheese.

* Birthdays are good for you.The more you have, the longer you live.

* You may be only one person in the world,! But you may also be the world to one person.

* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

* We could learn a lot from crayons... Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.

*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today...I did.

English - Don't pronounce everything

Wednesday September 3, 2008
Don’t pronounce everything!
By LUKE TEOH

It is very common not to hear some of the vowels when we pronounce some words. These are called unstressed vowels.

A MALAYSIAN man who was on holiday at his sister’s in Toronto asked for an envelope from his niece but she could not comprehend what he wanted.

He repeated the word “envelope” a few times, yet his niece did not know what he wanted so he enunciated, “En-ve-luhp.”

But the Canadian-born girl was still puzzled so she went to ask her Malaysian-born mother what her uncle wanted.

The lady said, “He’d like an onv-luhp.”

What had confused the niece was that her uncle was unaware of the unstressed vowel in the word envelope and had pronounced it giving the word three syllables instead of the usual two.

What are unstressed vowels?

It is very common not to hear some of the vowels when we pronounce some words. These are called unstressed vowels. Such a vowel is shown in dictionaries as an italicised schwa or a bracketed schwa which tells you that the vowel is not usually pronounced in the word.

Here are examples of some words with the unstressed vowel missing in each word.

1. bre_kfast
2. veg_table
3. bus_ness
4. diff_rent
5. int_rest
6. myst_ry
7. sep_rate
8. choc_late
9. di_mond
10. ev_ry
11. hist_ry

Here are the pronunciations of some words with an unstressed vowel missed out in each word. Did you know the words? Check in a dictionary for the italicised or bracketed schwa.

1. temprature
2. mathmatics
3. camra
4. factry
5. poisnous
6. cemetry
7. Wensday


Here are some common phrases with an unstressed vowel in each phrase:

1. sister-in-law – sistrin law
2. mother-in-law – mothrin law (_thrin assimilated and pronounced as _drin)
3. father-in-law – fathrin law
4. brother-in-law – brothrin law
5. daughter-in-law – daughtrin law
6. Mr & Mrs – mistruhn misiz

Silent letters

Some letters in certain words are not pronounced, i.e. they are silent. Here are some common silent letters, showing where they occur:

1. bo plumber, plumbing

o bomber, bombing
o climber, climbing
o debt, debtor
o subtle
o doubt, doubting

2. co scent

o science
o scythe
o rescind
o sceptre
o descend

3. ko knob

o knack
o knight
o knuckle
o knell
o knead

4. g

o gnat
o gnash
o sign, design
o align, alignment
o gnaw
o gnarled

5. ho exhibit

o exhaust
o heir
o honour, honourable
o honest, honesty
o vehicle

6 . l

o salmon
o almond
o yolk
o walk
o alms
o palm

7. wo wrath

o writhe
o wreck
o wracking
o wriggle
o answer

8. p

o raspberry
o pneumatic
o psychology, psychiatry
o pneumonia
o pseudonym
o psalm

9. so isle

o aisle
o viscount
o debris
o island

10. to fasten

o listen, listener, listening
o often
o glisten
o christen
o jostling

11. u

o guitar
o circuit
o guillotine
o guilt, guilty, guiltless
o biscuit
o guard

Elisions

Elision – the ‘missing out’ of a consonant or vowel or both is also very common in informal speech.

1. elision of a vowel

o go away (go way )
o try again (try gain)
o run along (run long)
o may as well (may-s well )
o get another (get nother)

2 . elision of a consonant to must be

o left turn
o next day
o post office
o went up

do stand still

o a thousand ringgit
o could be
o bold face
o found out
o loved traveling

This is just a very simple and rather superficial explanation on the eliding of sounds in pronunciation as I am unable to use the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) on the computer.

For a more detailed explanation, one can refer to books on spoken English or pronunciation.

I have referred to Modern Spoken English by Thomas Lee Crowell, Jr (Late Professor of English, Columbia University and Hunter College), Listening to Spoken English by Gillian Brown (Professor of English as an International Language, University of Cambridge) and An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English by A.C. Gimson (formerly Professor of Phonetics, University College, London).

A dictionary is one of the most frequently used books for getting information and I have found the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English quite adequate for everyday use.

Should you have any questions on the pronunciation of English or phonetics, do contact me – luketeoh2@yahoo.com

English - Letter writing

Another extract from the news cutting written by Luke Teoh , Ipoh

Friday July 18, 2008
No more punctuation
OPEN CHANNEL

IN the Seventies, in its Manual for Civil Service Typists, the British Civil Service recommended the omission of full-stops marking abbreviations and all non-essential commas outside the body of a letter – from the date, the inside name and address, and after the salutation and the complimentary closure.

This gave rise to a modern style of letter-writing, and this information has been disseminated to the teaching of letter-writing in Britain, Australia, New Zealand and several other Commonwealth countries. What about Malaysia?


Abbreviations


Mr (NOT Mr. with the full-stop)


Mrs


Dr


am / pm


Ltd


BA / BSc / MA / Ph D


UN / NATO / USA / UK


Addresses


Miss Joanne Kam
8 Jalan Lembu
Bukit Putra
31360 Sekandang

Letters – salutations and complimentary closures.


Dear Sam (NOT Dear Sam, with the comma)


Dear Sir


Yours sincerely (NOT Yours sincerely, with the comma)


Yours truly

I think Malaysian students should be taught this modern style of letter–writing, too. It has been more than 30 years overdue.

People can make judgements about you not only from what you say in your letters but from the way you say it: this includes the way you set out the letter and address the envelope.

English - acronyms

An extract from the news cutting.

Friday July 18, 2008

All about ASAP and FYI and FYA
By CHRISTINE JALLEH


ONE day, a colleague turned to me and asked, “What’s FYI?”

“For your information.”

“What’s FYA?”

“For your action.”

“What’s WRT?”

“With reference to...”

Before the conversation dragged on any further, I quickly looked up a website on acronyms used in business communications and sent it to him via e-mail.

This conversation made me realise that the full meaning of many acronyms and abbreviations may not be immediately apparent for many people – students or working adults alike.

For starters, an acronym is a word created from combining the initial letters of each word. For example, For your action.

An abbreviation is a word shortened from its original form. For example, “Attn.” is an abbreviation of the word “attention” to convey the meaning “for the attention of”.

In general, a full stop is used for abbreviations where the last letter of the word and the abbreviation are not the same. For example, “Co.” (Company) needs a full stop but “Ltd” (Limited) does not. Acronyms do not need punctuation marks.

Below are some frequently used short forms in business communication like e-mails, faxes and letters:

a.k.a. – also known as

On Monday morning, Kay El, a.k.a. The Boss, walked in happily and greeted her assistant, Pee Jay.

approx. – approximately

Checking her e-mail, Pee Jay read, “Today is the boss’s birthday. Can everyone please slip off quietly to the cafeteria in approx. 15 minutes?”

ASAP – as soon as possible

Pee Jay opened up her daily planner and scribbled ASAP next to some of the urgent items on her to-do list.

Attn. – for the attention of

Leafing through the stack of mail to be sent out, Pee Jay asked her boss, “To whom should I address the cheque for the annual report?”

Her boss replied, “Just write ‘Attn: Ms. Chris-tine Jalleh’. She’ll know what to do with it.”

Bcc. – blind carbon copy or blind copy to. In this case, the carbon copy is sent to an e-mail recipient whose e-mail address is not visible to the cc or other bcc recipients.

“By the way, I think it’s better if you bcc me in your e-mail to Brown. We wouldn’t want him thinking that I’m supervising you for this project.”

Cc. – carbon copy, or copy to

“But I would like to be cc-ed on the e-mail to Mr Green as I have not yet introduced the both of you to each other.”

c/o – in care of, used when sending a document to A who will receive it on B’s behalf because B is away from the office.

“Boss, I think Christine is back in China this week. Would it be all right if I sent the cheque in care of her assistant? I’ll still write her name on top with c/o Ah Sis Tern below.”

COD – cash on delivery, where a person makes payment for an item purchase after it has been delivered.

“I’m also sending out the cheque for the set of Business English reference books we bought COD on eBay.”

e.g. – exempli gratia (for example)

Pee Jay replied to the e-mail, “Hi everyone. Please remember that the boss doesn’t like surprises, e.g. everyone shouting ‘Surprise!’ in the cafeteria.”

et al. – et alii (and others). Usually used to list co-authors after the lead author in a bibliography, this form is now popularly used to address the other people other than the recipient in e-mails.

She received a new e-mail, which read, “Dear Pee Jay et al., I was reminded that the boss does NOT like surprises ...”

etc. – et cetera (and so on OR and so forth)

This means that we will not be able to collectively surprise her by springing out of the cafeteria doors as we had planned, etc.

exc. – except

“Can everyone, exc. Pee Jay, be at the cafeteria in 5 minutes? We need to figure out a surprise without the surprise element. Thanks!”

FYI – for your information

Her boss’s voice brought the young assistant back to the present, “Pee Jay, I’m forwarding you all these e-mails FYI, okay?”

FYA – for your action

“Note that some of these e-mails are FYA ...”

i.e. – id est (that is)

After acknowledging her supervisor, Pee Jay decided to help her colleagues out and typed, “She’s in a good mood today, i.e. we won a new account and completed a major project.”

K – thousand, e.g. 450K = 450,000

“Just to give you an idea of her mood, it’s a 450K retainer for the first quarter ...”

PA – personal assistant

The immediate reply to Pee Jay’s e-mail read, “Thanks for the info, Pee Jay – you’re the best PA!”

p.a. – per annum (per year)

Pee Jay smiled and responded, “Haha, there is a reason why I’m paid RM65K p.a.”

p.p. - per pro (used when signing a document on someone’s behalf)

Looking back at her paperwork, Pee Jay signed some invoices on her boss’s behalf, inserting p.p. just before her signature.

Pto. – please turn over, used at the end of a page to indicate that there is a continuity to the text.

“By the way, please remember to type Pto. on the first page of the proposal you’re sending. The last time we sent it to him, he forgot to read the subsequent pages,” chimed in Kay El.

viz. – videlicet, namely

She got up and left a note on Pee Jay’s work station before leaving. Scribbled on it was, “Can I pass you my slice of birthday cake after I cut it? I really don’t need a lot of carbo, viz. refined flour, at my age.” The note ended with a wink.

Readers can go to http://www.acronymfinder.com/ to search for the meanings of over 4 million acronyms and abbreviations. This online dictionary also allows users to filter their search according to categories like information technology (IT), military and government, business and finance, science and medicine, organisations and schools, and slang and pop culture.

MUHIBBAH

Extract from the Star.

Saturday August 30, 2008 MYT 8:19:11 PM
Merdeka gathering of religious leaders to be held annually
By MAZWIN NIK ANIS


PUTRAJAYA: For the first time since Malaysia achieved independence 51 years ago, a gathering of religious leaders representing various faiths was held Saturday. Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi wants such a gathering be held annually as part of the country's merdeka celebration.

The Prime Minister said the inaugural gathering was a historical moment for the country as heads of various religions and communities gathered in the same hall to mingle.

"This is a historical and momentous time for all of us and I want similar gatherings be held every year when we celebrate Merdeka in years to come.

"We will find ways to improve and modify the gathering and see if there are opportunities for discussions to be held among the religious leaders. This is a perfect way to strengthen the bond among fellow Malaysians and we should not forego this golden opportunity," he said.

Abdullah was speaking at a "muhibbah" gathering attended by some 300 religious leaders and representatives of various faith groups, organised by the Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry.

Present were minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, National Unity and Integration department director-general Datuk Azman Amin Hassan and Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddishm, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism president Datuk A. Vaithilingam.

The Prime Minister said that efforts and opportunities must be sought among religious leaders to meet, eat at the same table as well as exchange views as this is a good way to know and understand each other's religious perspective better.

"This will also help promote muhibbah (unity), tolerance and respect, which is extremely important in a multi-religion, multi-ethnic society like Malaysia," he said.

Prof Datuk Dr Khalid Abdul Kadir

This is another extract from the Star.

I have met him before, when my mother was admitted to hospital in 2006. Know somethimg he is a very humble doctor. Great, doc, god bless you.

Monday September 1, 2008
Prof Khalid honoured with first Merdeka Award
By FARIK ZOLKEPLI

JOHOR BARU: For more than 30 years, Prof Datuk Dr Khalid Abdul Kadir has been researching the human body’s response to stress and diabetes.

The efforts by the 60-year-old head of the Johor Baru Monash University Clinical School and endocrinologist paid off when he was honoured with the first Merdeka Award for Health, Science and Technology.

“The award will inspire me to work harder in my research,” he said in an interview.
The award is jointly initiated by Petronas, ExxonMobil and Shell. The Star is the official media for the Merdeka Awards.

The first part of his research work, which started in 1973 at Monash University Australia, focused on how the body responds to stress and ways to modify the responses as its effects might lead to diseases.

Prof Khalid explained that the second part of his research involved studies on the number of people with diabetes and the reason they suffered the disease.

Scrolls of honour: Prof Khalid holding up one of his many certificates testifying to his achievements in Johor Baru recently.

“We discovered in the early 1980s that 4.6% of the country’s adult population suffered from the disease and the number increased to 8% between 1996 and 1997.

“At present, the number continues to grow – between 10% and 12% are effected despite the Government’s efforts in healthy lifestyle programmes,” he said.

He noted that the orang asli community, even those near urban areas, were not affected by diabetes, unlike the Malays, Chinese and Indians.

“We are very interested to know why they are 'protected' from the disease whereas Aborigines in Australia are more prone to it compared to Caucasians,” he said.

Born in Nong Chik, Johor, Prof Khalid admitted that it was difficult balancing his research with being an endocrinologist, his duties as a professor and his family.

“Young researchers must understand that medical clinical research can be quite an arduous journey.

“Collaborating with intelligent, enthusiastic, and bright group of people is important as research is a team effort,” he said.

Prof Khalid’s main inspiration for becoming a doctor was former deputy prime minister Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, who treated him when he had chickenpox as a child.

He said Prof John Funder of Monash University also inspired him to become a researcher in stress hormones during his PhD studies.

He is no stranger to stature as his parents were none other than former law minister Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Yusof and the nation’s first woman minister Tun Fatimah Hashim.