SUICIDE (Bunuh Diri) at KB Mall

I was shocked when I heard about the latest furor at KB Mall. I girl unsuccessfully attempted suicide which, in her opinion, will settle all her problems. I don't know how or why she ended up on the hedge, but her act got me thinking - is this what our youths have been reduced to?

In a nation, youths should be the one who we can rely upon. They should be the one who have the strong will, the courage and the hunger to make our nation stronger in the future. However, our youths have been hit with dangerous diseases. Drugs, immorality, indiscipline and many other weakening ailments have made our youths something of a weakness in our quest to become budding nation. Money, which should be used to build nation, is used to cure these illnesses instead. Think about what our nation should have been if we have not been troubled with these maladies? We should have conquered the world, as what a wise man once said:

Give me ten youths and I will conquer the world!

Are We Correct in Making British English Our English?

Pupils in Malaysia always get confused in spelling some of the English words such as neighbour (neighbor) and colour (color). Here, we should enlighten them on the two mainstream English spelling they often mistakenly used. However, I'm not going into details for all the differences, like in the wikipedia, or the spelling, like in this link, rather I will make it simple for the pupils to understand it according to my own opinion.

Football (British) vs Soccer (US)

You don't have to be a genius to see that the sport involved is played using foot, with the exception of the goalkeepers. The word 'football' clearly indicates this, while 'soccer' is nothing that we can comprehend.

Toilet (British) vs Restroom (US)

Toil means 'to work; to labour'. We use the word toilet here instead of restroom because we know that in this place we toil a lot, not resting! I can't imagine myself resting while taking a dump; it really needs hard work.

Lift (British) vs Elevator (US)

There is no difference in meaning for both words, as both means 'to carry something from lower to higher position'. However, it will be easier for our speaking when we say 'lift' (one syllable) instead of 'e.le.va.tor' (four syllables), don't you think?

And finally,

England vs America

We are learning English, not Amerish or whatsoever. Thus, we can see that English should be derived from England, and we know that England is part of British soil, not in the United States.

So, to conclude, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, we Malaysians are correct in making British English as our English.

My Student and Scoliosis. HELP!

I watched in pain when I visited her the day before her surgery. She looked so pale, anxious to know what will happen to her future. She was eager to take the exam; to write an essay for her favourite English subject, but I assured her that her health was more important and she could write plenty of essays for me after getting better. She was diagnosed with Scoliosis, an abnormality in the spine. This results in her uneven shoulders, and frequent back pains, thus her decision (or her family's, I don't actually know) for the surgery was justifiable. Or, is it?

Today, after the surgery and several days at the hospital, she is permitted to return home. However, she is not to bend her body for at least a year! I don't know about you, but I find it difficult to perceive that a teenager has to endure this pain. She even has to take SPM exam at the end of this year! This prompts me to rummage through the Internet about this Scoliosis, and what I found in one of the site I visited is very intriguing. It claims that there is actually no medical justification for surgery, rather it is a cosmetic one! However, I'm not going to be swayed by this one article, which is probably written by a person who failed her surgery, but it still makes me anxious whether her decision to have it before her SPM exam is a correct one. There are actually exercises and corrective braces to consider against surgery, but still the decision has to be made by her.

Hopefully, she will heal in time for her SPM. We; your friends and teachers; wish you a speedy recovery.

Here are some articles I read:

http://blogs.monografias.com/sistema-limbico-neurociencias/2010/06/08/what-is-scoliosis-what-causes-scoliosis/

http://spinalinc.com/scoliosis.php

http://www.osteopathy.com.sg/articles/scoliosis.html

http://www.livestrong.com/article/155005-abdominal-scoliosis-exercises/

http://www.modesto-chiro.com/scoliosis.html

http://movementsafootblog.com/2008/12/07/uneven-shoulder-blades/

http://www.hsc.com.my/cheras/eng/what-is-scoliosis.php

You'll Never Walk Alone

Why do I bother to write about the LFC vs Man United game when everything has been written by the LFC fans all over the world? I surely not writing this out of conformity, rather I'm writing it to show how I feel. After all, that is what blogging is about, right? Surely football fans must ask this question first - why do we support a football team? Well, for me, it is all about togetherness; to feel a sense of belonging; to share the same passion with others. It is also the question of loyalty; that is to be with the same team regardless of its ups and downs. And LFC fans are known for their passion and loyalty towards their club, even after finishing 7th last season. Or even after a certain el Nino quits the team for 'glory' with other 'big' club. Or even after a dismal start to the current campaign under ex-manager Roy Hodgson. Now, seemingly, we are out of mediocrity, even if there is one, with the current rich of form where we are winning a lot more than we are losing under our 'new' hero Kenny Dalglish. Such passion which drives me to wear the LFC jersey when we were losing games, what more when we are winning games now. And of course, the win over bitter rivals Manchester United taste sweeter than 4 spoonfuls of sugar put into a small cup of tea. Today, I was smiling all day at my school, much to the disgust of several other teachers who support the Devils. They congratulated me reluctantly, but I accepted them nevertheless. They were perplexed as how confident I was yesterday when I predicted Carroll would get a hattrick with a 3 - 0 scoreline, only for the nearest of miss when it was Dirk Kuyt who came with the hattrick with a 3 - 1 scoreline. If only they had the guts to ask me that, I would have answered them with this:

"With fans like me, LFC will never walk alone"

To recap last night's game, here are some pictures taken from various sources:

82 kilograms