Pakcik reminisces (Pt 23b) - Response to Awang Goneng

Pakcik’s previous entry drew a number of comments. The one from Awang Goneng (copied below) touched on points very pertinent to learning of English language.

“Way to go Abang Ngah! I am happy to hear about your planned collaboration with a local university. The problem nowadays is not the quantity of teaching but the quality. Our children have lost their language skills but there are more opportunities for language learning around them. People say there's too much Malay nowadays, but there's too much English too. More and more government departments are writing in English, more people in public are speaking in English and there are many, many television programmes in English. Language learning isn't just vocabulary building or learning the mechanics of grammar. It is more than that. Children should read and love reading. They should listen and love listening. In short, they should love the language they are learning. Literature is kicked by the wayside nowadays and language is pushed into slots. English for Science, English for this English for that. Teaching English as English seems to be a futile exercise. Give them back the love of literature, the sounds of words.”

___________________________

While Awang Goneng laments briefly over the teaching and usage of English language I am using this avenue to express my concern on the same subject:

i ) - Would the few hundred teachers imported from America be of help to the likes of the poor rural children who attend classes at Almanar?

ii ) - Assuming our teachers have been suitably trained to teach English as a means to communicate and a tool to search for knowledge, are they at liberty to use their skill to the full or are they being restricted to doggedly and blindly follow what the demigods of education upstairs have outlined?

iii ) - Have the heads of schools been trained to MANAGE an organisation rather than to teach; and if so have they got the leeway to exercise discretion to suit the problems faced in their varied environments?

iv) - Seeing what has been the excessive emphasis on RECORDs of straight ‘A’ at state as well as at school level, should we not, for a change, see highlights of the number and percentage of pupils achieving nothing beyond ‘D’ and ‘E’? Not long ago, the percentage of the group of pupils in this low category at one school reached as high as 30% in one PMR exam. That is very telling isn’t it?

v) – Does the introduction of a subject like EST ( English for Science and Technology) reflect deficiency in our English as a subject?

vi) – Instead of hard copies, blackboard and chalks, must we encourage the use of computing technology to the extent that a teacher can leave the pupils on their own in class?

vii) – Are the text books used for teaching English up to standard? Is it acceptable, for instance, that poems and short stories by Malaysians are translated into English and used as parts of introduction to English literature? Are we making our children learn English literature or learn to be proud of ‘Malaysia boleh’?

I have these questions playing in my head from time to time for so many years when I keep seeing with despair at the attainment of many kampong children coming for help at Almanar.

I will not forget what Awang Goneng once mentioned to Pakcik how the problem of poor children at the bottom classes in schools of a neighbouring country was tackled. The method was so successful that teachers would scramble to teach bottom classes! But we are too proud to be a ‘copycat’. With Malaysia Boleh we should not be surprised when Malaysian engineers are soon required to reinvent the wheel!

____________________

To Awang Goneng.

Mi, I may have been unnecessarily critical. I may have raised some eyebrows among my readers. But in the environments I happen to live in, on top of growing old, I have my frustrations.

Thank you for your comments.

Abang Ngah

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Pakcik reminisces (Pt 23a ) - A milestone in time

Weary of a possibility that this entry might be construed as an attempt to highlight self importance, Pakcik will have to be as brief as possible.

I cannot help waking up to the reality that this year marks an important milestone in my journey through time. Twenty years ago Pakcik had to vacate a cosy chair with an employer that I had been closely associated with for thirty five years of my life. I owe them my tertiary education and I owe them material gains and experience in building the life of my family. At the end of that milestone we were gratified to witness our three birds leaving their nest, and the two of us left contented to begin unhindered the final part of our journey. That was 30 years ago.

We were ready for our ‘hijrah’; in location, modes of living, devoid of clubs and partying, and, above all, the activities which preoccupy. Sadly we had to part with many very close friends and relatives, including our own children.

Two years later I chose a new career, one which the pair of these old birds would not expect any material gains. And now, eighteen years past the bridge in time, we are happy that, without any lingering doubts, we had Almanar launched. In its humble way Almanar shares the pride of seeing some deserving children from this small community progressing ahead in education, one that could bring gains to their respective families; as briefly sketched in our ‘End of the Tunnel’ series.

The very recent siting of a home for orphans and children of needy families by the authority has presented Almanar a new challenge. The present number of children living in this new home, a stone’s throw away, is about 80 children and very soon it will increase to about 100. Sadly, these children, resulted from shortcomings in years of upbringing them, have little inclination towards education. This is an added challenge which Pakcik have neither time nor expertise to deal with.

It is very fortunate that we have been offered an opportunity to open a discussion with representives from a university with the view of implementing a small project loosely called ‘transfer of knowledge from university to community’. I am hoping against hope that a new era will open in a not-too-distant future when members from that university will make programmed visits to Almanar to deal with motivation aspects of these children. It will surely mark a new milestone in time for Almanar.

On a slightly wider perspective, if the above-mentioned project truly gets underway successfully, I would like schools around us to take advantage of this new university-Almanar venture; instead of the current tendency among certain groups in the schools to look with scorn and doubts at what benefits Almanar could offer to their pupils.

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Interlude – Bengawan Solo

“Ning, I have no class this afternoon. Let’s go out for high tea after my Jumaat prayers.’

“ So I don’t have to prepare lunch.”

“ And dinner!”

That was a deal and by three we were in town to join a small crowd with a three-piece band playing soft music. We found ourselves a table for two in a corner within sight of the music makers. After picking up some dishes we sat quietly enjoying our food half listening to lovely old English pieces – pieces for dancing.

I did not know what was in her mind but I quickly went back in time, some fifty years ago`. I could see couples, all properly attired; swaying to romantic waltzes and slow foxtrots. Oh, what a lovely scene it was in the pictures of my mind. Suddenly I was awakened from my reverie when the music changed. It was Bengawan Solo, my very favourite of the mid 50’s.

I looked up and saw the leader/singer smiling at me as he sang the lyrics. Yes we know each other and it was his way of presenting something special. What a song this is, an evergreen Indonesian classic.

Bengawan Solo

Bengawan Solo, riwayatmu ini
sedari dulu jadi perhatian insani
musim kemarau, tak seberapa airmu
di musim hujan air meluap sampai jauh ...

mata airmu dari Solo
terkurung gunung seribu
air mengalir sampai jauh
akhirnya ke laut ...

itu perahu, riwayatmu dulu
kaum pedagang s'lalu naik itu perahu

________________________

"Bengawan Solo, this is a song of your history.
People have been fascinated with this great river since ancient times,
In the dry season, your water is little, and in the rainy season, your water overflows till far,
Around the source of the Solo River, there are a thousand mountains,
And the river flows all the way to the sea.
There are always many merchants on board ships going up and down the river.
These ships also show your history."

________________

Before we left I made the few steps to the music makers and thanked the leader for his very special song. “ I knew you would want me to sing that. Until next time …..”

That was a good break for us. On the way home I expressed the thought which had been lingering in my mind. “ Ning, isn’t strange? Fifty years ago our Malay folks looked with contempt and disapproval at Malays in proper dresses dancing gracefully to the sentimental music because it was a western culture. And today, we see on TV crowds of young and old Malays swaying their hands in unison, delirious at boys and girls jumping and wriggling on stage in dresses I feel completely disgusted.”

“You are behind time, darling!” she responded with a wry smile.

Indeed I am. A lot of water has gone under the bridge (of Bengawan Solo)

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All in the Family ( Part 2 ) – From Adam to Adam

Over forty years ago, a young couple indeed we were when we received the much awaited news of the coming of our first baby. And during the next nine months we were made to wonder in suspense whether it was a boy or a girl, whether it was just one or more, and hoping all was going to be a gift with perfect features and all. Baby scanning was not even a dream. In many ways, however, the months of expectation, suspense, dream and prayers were all part of the pleasure. Much of the thrill is lost today, not unlike watching a replay of a football final when the score is already known.

And the pleasure of trying to arrive at a suitable name for our first one was an added pleasure. We borrowed and we bought books of names to make our list of preferred names. And it had to be a boy’s and a girl’s name, with contingency added in the event of more than one. But how would one arrive at a name or two? What criteria and basis were to apply? At long last, after much deliberation and brainstorming, the name/names had to start with alphabet ‘A’. You see we went so far as to assume that the yet-to-be born babe would be clever enough to go into a university, and at the end of each year the child should not find it difficult to find his/her name from the long list of passes! It had to be among the top few name! It was beyond belief that the result could appear on a small screen held in your palm, wherever you choose to be.

So we had Ainun followed by Amran and Anwar – just three? Pakcik had wanted a full dozen, or even more, but three times on the operation table was enough for any mother to go through in the 60’s. Our Dr McCoy advised against going for number four. ( Note: Dato’ Dr McCoy is a founder member of Malaysian Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (MPPNW) and has been its chairman since 1989. He is Co-President of International Physicians for the Preventive of Nuclear War (IPPNW). Disappointed, we conceded.

Our number one herself started the short list of four children whose names begin with ‘A’ except for an ‘S’. The ‘S’, for Sulaiman, was our special request in honour of the child’s great-grand-father, a scholar who died at the young age of 39. Like her mother, Ainun herself cannot go for a dozen or more, beating her mother by having four. The fourth was named after our first prophet ( Alaihissalaam), ADAM, and the first of human race.

The list continued with Aisyah, the first ‘Hawa’ in the list of our grandchildren, and finally Adam. We never asked why it should be Adam. But it could very well be the last child. If Makcik found three was enough, our daughter was brave enough to go for four
___________________________
I have a younger sister in my family, whose name does not begin with ‘A’. She has three children none of whom carries a name with ‘A’, and yet they are successful in life. Her youngest daughter, now in the Hague with her husband, delivered her first baby three months ago. It was a very pleasant surprise for us to know that this first baby was named Adam. This new family of three returned during the recent Christmas holidays.

And for the first time the two ADAMS, sons of two cousins, met.

Ainun & the two Adams (8 yr & 5 m)

We can only pray and hope that these two Adams ( both born in August) are blessed, will live up to their auspicious name, and be humane enough to be of service to mankind.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan.

Hatinya baik (He had a wonderful heart) –Part 4

A) INTRODUCING First Day of 2012

I have seen this first day more than seventy times. A lot of water has gone under the bridge, so to speak. And, if there is any left, how many more are there ahead? Wallahu A’lam.

The year just gone had many good moments. The few instances, which Makcik and Pakcik accepted with sadness, were the deaths of several very close to us, in particular Makcik’s own mother and her only aunt. And just about one week to the end of the year I was particularly saddened by the passing a national figure of whom I am writing below.

There is nothing to celebrate, really. Last night it was cats and dogs right through the night till almost dawn. Therefore open air first-day celebration in this world-class city was out of question.

This being the first day of the year I chose to close Almanar for the normal morning class, leaving just for the afternoon. And I made myself useful in the morning ‘supervising’ Makcik making my usual favourite home-made thick-cut marmalade. She ended with a batch of five tubs which should keep me happy at breakfast for another six months.

Soon after my afternoon class a middle age couple turned at our house. They are a husband-and-wife team planting vegetables for sale. They apparently heard that this old man by the sea had done wonders for free.

Would Pakcik kindly accept her daughter who had just obtained 3C’s and 2D’s (English and Math) in her recent UPSR exam? Whom should I pity, the vegetable growers or her poor daughter? It was not such a difficult question. Years ago I accepted an orphan with 2D’s in the same subjects and he converted them to 2 A’s three years later.

So that was my first day of 2012. This evening I am sitting to draft this posting.

________________________________________

B ) Hatinya baik (He had a wonderful heart) –Part 4

Utusan Malaysia – 24th December 2011

On 23rd December 2011, a Friday, once a minister in Prime Minister’s Dept, Tan Sri Dr Abdul Hamid Othman, passed away suddenly at the age of 72. I cannot claim to be more than an acquaintance to him. But he was a man I could not help admiring.

Had his son, his only child, not been a close classmate of my son during their secondary education at Sekolah Menengah Alam Shah, I would have never had the opportunity to know this very special man whose thought and vision I could share. That was in the 70’s when he was a lecturer at the University Kebangsaan. He used to call at my house in Damansara Heights and we had interesting talks on various subjects, particularly education. We shared a common beginning in education. The two paths in the forest, where I chose to take one leaving the other, were more or less the same paths; but he took the other. We would probably be friends at AlAzhar University had I chosen the path preferred by my parents.

We talked about St Andrew where he went to do his PhD in Islamic study, and I visiting the birth place of golf.

I remember how interesting it was doing research in Islam St Andrew’s University. He spoke very highly of the English professors’ knowledge in Islam and the Quran. I was not surprised when he said a number of them converted, but only after they had retired from the university.

He had high hopes for his son, Wafi, the like of my hope for my first son. He had wanted his son to reach the sky in education. Today I know deep in my heart how satisfied he had been to see the attainment of his loved one, obtaining first-class honours in law, a Masters in law at Cambridge, finishing with a PhD in maritime law, a chip of the old block.

I never wondered why the late Tan Sri was picked by Dr Mahathir to be his advisor in Islamic matters. I could not think of a better person, a quiet, humble and unpretentious great human being.

Many would miss arwah Tan Sri. I regret for not keeping in touch with him in his later days. All I can do now is to pray for him. Al Fatihah for him, and condolence to surviving members of his family.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan.

With a Sigh (Pt. 11) - A Class for Three

Flashback - A year ago, on 15.12.2010 my posting went like this:

"With a sigh ( Pt 4 ) – Do I carry on or call it a day?

“O, no, … only NINE ….?” cried my first little thought when I stepped into my class at Almanar one day last week. Rising to their feet to greet me were just nine pupils, ALL GIRLS. What has become of all the boys?.... “

_____________________________

Indeed, Pakcik went through a very disappointing time and questioned whether or not to call it a day. A few reasons contribute to the dwindling number of children attending Almanar. I was truly depressed at the situation then. Somehow, nothing short of providence brought fresh light into the gloom. A house for children of poor families and orphans was opened one kilometer away from Almanar, calling for help from Almanar to tutor about 80 children from Form 1 to Form 4. This god-send fresh mission was most welcome, albeit a fresh challenge never thought of previously; the majority are of very poor quality, academically and in attitude towards learning.

How the Form 3 children of this group fared in the recent PMR is not yet known to us as these children are away on holidays. But we are certain of very poor results for a start. We will soon know.

In the meantime we have not closed our door to other children in the community. This morning was supposed to be the first day for new Form 1 pupils to join Almanar class. Against the previous high figure of up to forty, we had THREE pupils, a boy and two girls!

The class of THREE

But we are past being deterred from pushing ahead. I remember Mr Micawber, a character in Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield, one of the text books for Form 4 English Literature in 1954. This eternal optimist believes that "something will turn up".

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Merry X’mas - 2011

To our Christian visitors and, in particular, our very old friends, Pauline, Julian, Ian, Raymond and their families, Salmah and I wish a merry X’mas, possibly a beautiful white one for those in UK and the States.

With kind regards from

Hassan & Salmah

_______________________

P/S

Untuk yang seugama, Pakcik ingin melakarkan ayat 45 dan 59 dari surah Al I’mran.

Oleh kerana Pakcik sendiri tidak berkemampuan memberi penerangan secukupnya, memadai lah dengan apa yang terdapat dalam “Tafsir Pimpinan Al-Rahman Kepada Pengertian Al Quran” yang diterbitkan oleh Jabatan Perdana Menteri- 1968 :

Ayat 45 dari surah Al-Imran

“(Ingatlah) Ketika malaikat berkata: “Wahai Maryam! Bahawasanya Allah memberikan khabar yang mengmbirakan mu, dengan (mengurniakan kepada mu seorang anak yang engkau akan kandungkan sematamata dengan) kalimah daripada Allah ( kalimah arahan Allah ‘kuun’ - atau ‘jadi’- dan terus jadi) , nama anak itu: Al Masih Isa Ibnu Maryam, seorang yang terkemuka dalam dunia dan akhirat, dan ia juga dari orang yang didanpingkan (diberi kemuliaan disisi Allah).”

Ayat 59 dari surah Al-Imran

“Sesungguhnya perbandingan kejadian nabi Isa disisi Allah, adalah sama dengan kejadian nabi Adam. Allah telah menciptakan Adam dari tanah lalu berfirman kepadanya: ‘Jadilah engkau!’ Maka jadilah ia.”

________________________

From those two verses alone we are being reminded that Al-Masikh Isa, is one of the greatest prophets who are to be honoured by us all. He is no less human than Adam, both of whom were created by a one-word command from Him – KUUN or simply BE. Adam was created without parents and Isa without the need of a father, hence Isa bin Maryam. That being the case, and firmly with that unshakable belief, should we not honour this prophet of Allah the way we are expected to do as enshrined in Al Quran? Could we not respect others for the basis they choose for their belief, that we be respected in return?

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Moment to Reflect ( Pt 7 ) - I – Who am I?

5.30 pm today.

From our home we noticed,
An inviting scene.
We walked down.
And stood there.
Words unspoken.

Just watch.
Just admire.

Vast
Endless

The marvel of the Great Creator
Aku bertafakkur sejenak.

Click on pictures to enlarge

A 5.30 scene -Sunday 18.12.12

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What Pakcik Received ( Pt 2 ) - Room to Read

In September this year ( click HERE) Pakcik decided to introduce this ‘What Pakcik Received’ series primarily meant to extend to my readers certain articles of interest sent to me by friends. Recently, one in Thailand emailed an article by Nicholas D Kristof, a well-known columnist of New York Times. Subject: Room to Read ONE of the legendary triumphs of philanthropy was Andrew Carnegie's construction of more than 2,500 libraries around the world. It's renowned as a stimulus to learning that can never be matched - except that, numerically, it has already been surpassed several times over by an American man you've probably never heard of. I came here to Vietnam to see John Wood hand out his 10 millionth book at a library that his team founded in this village in the Mekong Delta - as hundreds of local children cheered and embraced the books he brought as if they were the rarest of treasures. Wood's charity, Room to Read, has opened 12,000 of these libraries around the world, along with 1,500 schools. Yes, you read that right. He has opened nearly five times as many libraries as Carnegie, even if his are mostly single-room affairs that look nothing like the grand Carnegie libraries. Room to Read is one of America's fastest-growing charities and is now opening new libraries at an astonishing clip of six a day. In contrast, McDonald's opens one new outlet every 1.08 days. It all began in 1998 when Wood, then a Microsoft marketing director, chanced upon a remote school in Nepal serving 450 children. Only one problem: It had no books to speak of. Wood blithely offered to help and eventually delivered a mountain of books by a caravan of donkeys. The local children were deliriously happy, and Wood said he felt such exhilaration that he quit Microsoft, left his live-in girlfriend (who pretty much thought he had gone insane), and founded Room to Read in 2000. He faced one challenge after another, not only in opening libraries but also in filling them with books that kids would want to read. "There are no books for kids in some languages, so we had to become a self-publisher," Wood explains. "We're trying to find the Dr. Seuss of Cambodia." Room to Read has, so far, published 591 titles in languages including Khmer, Nepalese, Zulu, Lao, Xhosa, Chhattisgarhi, Tharu, Tsonga, Garhwali and Bundeli. It also supports 13,500 impoverished girls who might otherwise drop out of school. In a remote nook of the Mekong Delta, reachable only by boat, I met one of these girls, a 10th grader named Le Thi My Duyen. Her family, displaced by flooding, lives in a shabby tent on a dike. When Duyen was in seventh grade, she dropped out of school to help her family out. "I thought education was not so necessary for girls," Duyen recalled. Room to Read's outreach workers trekked to her home and cajoled the family to send her back to class. They paid her school fees, bought her school uniforms and offered to put her up in a dormitory so that she wouldn't have to commute two hours each way to school by boat and bicycle. Now Duyen is back, a star in her class - and aiming for the moon. "I would like to go to university," she confessed, shyly. The cost per girl for this program is $250 annually. To provide perspective, Kim Kardashian's wedding is said to have cost $10 million; that sum could have supported an additional 40,000 girls in Room to Read. So many American efforts to influence foreign countries have misfired - not least here in Vietnam a generation ago. We launch missiles, dispatch troops, rent foreign puppets and spend billions without accomplishing much. In contrast, schooling is cheap and revolutionary. The more money we spend on schools today, the less we'll have to spend on missiles tomorrow. Wood, 47, is tireless, enthusiastic and emotional: a motivational speaker with no off button. He teared up as girls described how Room to Read had transformed their lives. "If you can change a girl's life forever, and the cost is so low, then why are there so many girls still out of school?" he mused. The humanitarian world is mostly awful at messaging, and Room to Read's success is partly a result of his professional background in marketing. Wood wrote a terrific book, "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World," to spread the word, and Room to Read now has fund-raising chapters in 53 cities around the world. He also runs Room to Read with an aggressive businesslike efficiency that he learned at Microsoft, attacking illiteracy as if it were Netscape. He tells supporters that they aren't donating to charity but making an investment: Where can you get more bang for the buck than starting a library for $5,000? "I get frustrated that there are 793 million illiterate people, when the solution is so inexpensive," Wood told me outside one of his libraries in the Mekong. "If we provide this, it's no guarantee that every child will take advantage of it. But if we don't provide it, we pretty much guarantee that we perpetuate poverty." "In 20 years," Wood told me, "I'd like to have 100,000 libraries, reaching 50 million kids. Our 50-year goal is to reverse the notion that any child can be told 'you were born in the wrong place at the wrong time and so you will not get educated.' That idea belongs on the scrapheap of human history." ________________________________ There are among us bloggers who spend a lot of their time and effort, not necessarily their own money, to help the needy, the aged, the sick, the poor children etc. Let us salute them and try to do our bits.

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Moment to Reflect ( Pt 6 ) - Hijrah 1433 – Dimana kita berada?

Setelah berakhirnya seribu empat ratus tiga puluh dua tahun, dimanakah kita sebagai satu umat berada? Sudah berapa lapisan keturunan berlalu semenjak tahun junjungan kita berhijrah? Tahap manakah bangsa Arab berada hari ini selepas datangnya hidayat? Tidakkah mereka dianugerah Tuhan kekayaan didunia ? Beginikah kedudukan keturunan satu bangsa daripada mana seorang nabi teragung dilahirkan, dan dalam bahasa mana turunnya AlQuran yang teragung? Tidakkah mereka diberi sumber kekayaan?

Aku kembali berfikir:

Tahap manakah aku berada, umur dan pencapaianku? Selagi ada hayat dibadan ….. biar setitik peluh mengalir dibadan, tidak semata mata melaung azam

Let us spare a moment to reflect

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With a Sigh (Pt 10) - Toil and Trouble

“Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.” Macbeth

_________________

I have often sighed with despair watching children who, for their poor performance, are grouped into the end of the class. A large secondary school within my vicinity may have as many as ten classes of about thirty-five pupils each. I do not blame schools for placing the better pupils together. They are the likely children to give the schools a place in the honoured list when the PMR and SPM results are released. But I do blame the school principles who put up pressure on teachers to maximise number of excellent results, at the expanse of the pupils who are being grouped and neglected as ‘no-hopers’. We do not do that to our children. Likewise we are duty bound to help these children if we take pride pride in being teachers, and earn our livelihood at that.

In a large primary school in certain rural areas many children come from very poor background. They never see kindergartens. Their only hope is to learn something from schools the moment they join Standard One at seven years old. The seemingly total efforts of this state, in maintaining at all costs the record of UPSR results, often leave the needy children behind. And the situation goes on for six years at the end of which the poorer children hardly learn anything. Instead, they have sadly acquired all the bad habits within the years. I have a girl of thirteen with all E’s in her UPSR who admitted, “ Saya malas Pakcik ( I am lazy).”

For the first time in seventeen years I am now seeing a strange phenomenon; children of poor families and orphans do not only have poor UPSR results but have also acquired bad behaviour. By logic these are the children who should have been given all the helps and motivation in schools. Our zest and demand for record-breaking performance of all A’s at UPSR exam at all costs has this bye-product which many in authority may not wish it to be highlighted.

An now, as the state religious department have picked up children from nooks and corners of the state and put then in one home, I am seeing this phenomenon, the presence of which, people who matter may not wish to recognise. But, for the very first time I have about 80 of these children, from Form One to Four. I have never lost my temper as often as I have of late. It is a combination of anger, helplessness and desperation. You see it all in most of these children, the playfulness, misbehaviour, laziness and stubbornness. Only very few show rays of hope.

Should Pakcik weed out those very difficult ones? No, it is a challenge. Additionally I understand it too well the following two beginning ayats from surah Alma’un:

Surah AlMa'un

107 - 1&2

“Hast thou ever considered (the kind of man) who gives the lie to all moral law? Behold, it is this (kind of man) that thrusts the orphan away.”- according to Muhammad Assad’s interpretation.

I talk to my children and children of Almanar the need to overcome challenges which make better men and women of us; and I shirk a challenge involving the orphans and the poor?

________________________

Two weeks ago I noticed a girl of Form Four struggling to copy notes from her beighbour. Half suspecting the reason I asked her and got the expected answer. “Dia rabun, Pakcik! (She cannot see!) came a chorus of cries from around her. But she was not alone. There were two other girls who had trouble all the years with no apparent help coming. Immediately after class I drove them to an optician. One and half hours later I drove the three girls home, looking shy but with confidence in their new gift of clearer vision. Deep in my heart I regret that this state of mine is very proud of dishing out computers to teachers of Standard Six (to encourage them to better UPSR results!) and children at all levels. And the likes of these poor children suffer the indignity of struggling just to be able to see. Could this be a rare case? There have been other pupils of Almanar requiring that simple and inexpensive gift to enable them to see the board, not something to play cyber-games with or join the face-book community.

Such is life and I can only draw a long sigh.

________________

But I am going to get some small help!

A young lady teaching English at a university close to us is looking forwards to give half a day a week to Almanar. When forewarned of the difficult children she merrily said she would make them sing to her music. She has the equipment to bring along.

A senior lecturer at the Teachers’ Training Institute nearby, who is has a couple of years to retirement, is anxious to find something to usefully fill his time. He specialises in Mathematics. He too will, for a start, contribute half a day a week to Almanar.

Who knows there is a secret floodgate somewhere. We must not despair.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemsnusiaan

P/s:

To a number of teachers who call at my blog, I regret having to express harshly against their profession. There are umpteen dedicated teachers and I certainly have not lost my deep respect for them. It is often the case of 'Seekor kerbau ..... '. At the same time I believe in expressing oneself, giving and receiving criticisms.

11-11-11 - What’s in a date?

I write about the dates which are meaningful to me.

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I saw beauty in 1.11.11, a date that appears once in a century, one day that I was blessed to have lived through, and I was thankful to Him for that. ( Click here)

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May 13^th 1969 was one day I wrote about, a day of frightening experience to Pakcik. (Click here) This date has become a land-mark in Malaysian history.

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August 31^st 1957 was a day greeted with pomp and pride in a small country named Malaya, now standing tall among the independent countries of the world. On that very day the young Pakcik was sitting alone far, far away from home, strangely wondering whether that independence would indeed be a good thing. ( Click here )

POPPY

And ninety-three years ago today, the hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month of 1918 was the official end of World War I. November 11^th of each year was the Remembrance Day, the Armistice, celebrated year after year during Pakcik’s young days. It may no longer be celebrated in the independent Malaysia but the date was well etched at the back of Pakcik’s little cell. ( Click xxxx.)

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Dates are turned into memories.

At this juncture I wish to apologise to Ninotaziz for having overlooked her comments for Pakcik’s 1-11-11 posting. As luck would have it, I was going through my deleted list when I noticed my mistake. In a way I am glad that it did happen as her contribution is not inappropriate to be included here. With apology to her, here it goes:

By Ninotaziz

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“It is the way of the world
Time and tide, await no man

Except in the heart
Where memories reside

And yet there are those
Who belittle our hold to the past

I say to them...

Learning and teachings
Would be meaningless lessons

Why, civilisation was built
upon the memories of man!”

Isn’t that a beauty? Thank you Ninot.

________________

Of course there are many other dates of importance to us all; of birthdays, anniversaries and so on, especially for one with a big family. But on top of all the dates, each and every one of us has a mysterious date of ultimate importance, a date we cease to be who we are, stripped bare of pride and position. Let us offer Alfatihah to our loved ones who have had theirs.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan

QURBAN

( I prefer Qurban to Korban for that specific rite in Islam - and Quran )

What did P Ramlee say?

P Ramlee

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Berkorban apa saja
Harta atau pun nyawa
Itulah kasih mesra
Sejati dan mulia

Kepentingan sendiri
Tidak diingini
Bahagia kekasih
Saja yang diharapi

Berkorban apa saja
Harta atau pun nyawa
Itulah kasih mesra
Sejati dan mulia
hmm... hmm... hmm...

Untuk menjadi bukti
Kasih yang sejati
Itulah tandanya
Jika mahu diuji

Berkorban apa saja
Harta atau pun nyawa
Itulah kasih mesra
Sejati dan mulia

_____________________________________

“ Kalau hendak melakukan qurban seekor lembu secara berkulmpulan, buatlah.” The speaker said. “Tapi janganlah membuat masalah kepada diri dan orang lain” ( If you want to perform the rite of slaughtering a cow jointly, by all means do it. But do not create problem to yourself and others involved.”

Makcik was listening to an Ustaz talking on TV early one morning a couple of days ago. Pakcik was reading a book, with half an ear on what was going on. Those words from the Ustaz interrupted my reading. I stopped to listen with interest. On matters related to accepted practices in religion he was against asking too many questions on whats and whys at the point of performing them. It would be right to put those questions for clarification while being taught in class. If one is being told by a person in authority what is good and he intends to do it, just do it without kicking up an awful fuss. Read your ‘niat’ ( be sure of your intention) and push on.

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I like to make reference to a Quranic parable contained in Ayat 67 to 71, Surah Albaqarah, which begins with:

It tells how a group of people during the time of Prophet Moses were told to ‘sacrifice a cow’. It was to be performed for a specific purpose related to unsolved murders at that time. The requirement was just 'a cow' of any sort. Instead of doing just that, they repeatedly sought to know greater details regarding the animal. Ir went on from a simple cow to its age, colour, pattern etc etc until the final descriptions made it extremely difficult for them to find a cow so specified.

Ask too many questions and you get it, so to speak!

__________________________

Selamat Hari Raya dan selamat BEQURBAN

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemnusiaan

P/S

I wonder how many people know about Qurban as organised by Yayasan Kemanusiaan of Muslim Aid, Malaysia. For more information click Cat-from-Sydney.

1-11-11- One and the Only One

Today is an odd day, a truly rare one at that. It happened a century ago, in 1911, and will only be here again in another century, in 2111. And I know this, today, happens only once in my life time. Many of my friends, even those who were a few years younger, have left us and they never lived to see one. I think we ( meant for my Muslim visitors ), who have the opportunity to experience today, say ‘Allahu Akbar. Walahul Hamd ), and for our loved ones, who never lived to see one date like today, we offer them Alfatihah instead.

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And last week was very unlike any other week. The two of us at Nuri received two very special and distinguished couples, two bloggers, GuiKP and Cat-from-Sydney. GiuKP came with his family and Cat-from-Sydney just like a honey-mooning couple.

To me it was not just a get-to-know-you occasions to meet these learned people with varied, very varied experiences. They are doing things bigger that what I have ever done, one deeply involved in higher education and the second in charity work. Conversations with these very special visitors are an eye opener – how much one can do in education, on one hand, and on charity work, the other.

To me blogging is immaterial as far as these visitors are concerned. What they have been doing is what I can never hope to do.

Makcik and Pakcik appreciate the trouble they took to locate our home, giving us the pleasure of knowing them, and leaving us hoping that that they should not wait for another 1-1-11 to be at Nuri again.

These learned visitors are doing just what I believe in:

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan