Proverbs and Sayings Equivalent of Malay Peribahasa

A student must include idioms, proverbs or sayings in their essay if they want to get high marks. However, Malay students tend to know more of the Malay peribahasa than its English equivalent. I list here several English proverbs which I think give the nearest meaning for the Malay peribahasa..

A bird in hand is worth two in the bush – yang dikejar tak dapat, yang dikendong berciciran

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth – hutang darah dibayar darah, hutang nyawa, nyawa padahnya

Better to be safe than sorry – Biar lambat asal selamat

Between the devil and the deep blue sea – ditelan mati emak, diluah mati bapak

Blood is thicker than water – air dicincang tak akan putus

Cut your coat according to your cloth – ukur baju di badan sendiri

Diamond cuts diamond – bertemu buku dengan ruas

Don’t judge a book by its cover – air yang tenang jangan disangka tiada buaya

Empty vessels make the most noise – tong yang kosonglah yang selalu berkocak

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me – takkan pisang berbuah dua kali

Give someone an inch and they will take a mile (yard) – beri betis hendakkan paha

In for a penny, in for a pound – sedikit-sedikit lama-lama jadi bukit

It never rains but it pours – sudah jatuh ditimpa tangga

It’s no use crying over spilt milk – sudah terhantuk, baru terngadah

Kill two birds with one stone – sambil menyelam minum air

Like father, like son – bapa borek, anak rintik

Many hands make light work – ringan sama dijinjing, berat sama dipikul
No garden without weeds - bumi mana tidak ditimpa hujan
No pain no gain - kalau tak dipecahkan ruyung, manakan dapat sagunya
No retreat, no surrender - biar putih tulang, jangan putih mata

Practice makes perfect – alah bisa tegal biasa

Time is money – masa itu emas

Where there is a will, there is a way – di mana ada kemahuan, di situ ada jalan

Feel free to add some more in the comments below for our students' sake. You may also comment if those given above are inaccurate.

GOOD LUCK IN YOUR SPM!

A Teacher Entering A Classroom...

I encourage my students to be creative, and to put in emotions into their essay, especially if they write a story. Last week, I held a competition to test their creativity. They were to rewrite this situation 'A teacher entering a classroom..' The winner of the competition put a very creative work indeed (although his grammar was not good enough).

During the exchange of teachers for today’s third lesson, every student’s face in the class was pale. Nobody was laughing or joking like they always did. Everybody was sitting idly at his or her own table, vigorously finishing their uncompleted homework. Some of them were sweating while the others were sitting uneasily on their chairs. The class was very quite like a creepy graveyard.

          Suddenly, they heard the dreaded footsteps, edging closer towards the class door. Everybody became even more scared. Not one of them dared to even look at whoever might be arriving at the door.

          Moments later, the footsteps stopped. Everybody slowly looked up. There stood an unfamiliar face, and it was not the face of whom they had all been thinking about. The class suddenly burst into laughter when they found out that the person standing at the door was not their Additional Mathematic teacher but a relief teacher instead. Some of the students shed their tears happily as though a big burden has been lifted from their shoulders.

Written by: Mohamad Izulhaikal bin Mustaffa (5 Arif) 

CONGRATULATIONS!

Another Teacher MUST DO Which Starts With the Word 'System'

Today I've finished another obligation for millennial teachers - an interactive examination on ICT terms and knowledge. It is called 'Sistem Analisa Kompetensi' (SAK?). It is a collection of 30 questions on ICT terms and knowledge which must be answered in 40 minutes. After 4 unwanted log-outs throughout the ordeal, I finally managed to finish it in only 20 minutes of the allocated time.

Teachers must log into the website using their IC numbers. They will then be taken into the regulation page. After reading all the rules and regulation carefully, they may start by clicking the button 'MULA'. 

Teachers must answer each question before proceeding to the next. In case of involuntary log-out happening, they should only close the browser and restart it again. After the second log in, they will continue at the time of when they are accidentally logged out. So, there are no worries about time running out before they finish answering. 

After finishing all the questions, a page appear with the word 'TAHNIAH' written on it. This means that you have completed the task successfully and may continue to real teaching work after that.

Do enjoy trying it out. Me and my friends sure did. We actually copied the answers for others' convenience. This is a list of MY answers, according to the name of the characters used in the situational based questions:

Abbas – D

Adam – A

Amy – D

Ann – A

Anna – C

Azealia – B

Basri – A

Chong – A

Daniala – A

Daud – C

Devan – C

Elisabeth –C

Gopal – B

Ibrahim – A

Ishak – D

Jasvir – C

Jenny – A

Jerry – C

Kate – C

Katrina – B

Kavitha – A

Kenjna – D

Kumar – A

Lily – D

Lim – A

Marco - B

Mazitah – C

Micheal – C

Ming Lee – B

Nathan – D

Nesya – D

Ng – A

Patricia – A

Raman – C

Saffiya – C

Sahzil – B

Sara – C

Selva – B

Sharifuddin – A

Shukri – D

Soraya – C

Sulaiman – B

Susan – A

Thomas – C

Tom – B

Vijayen – A

Wahid – A

Zahid – B

 

... Just Around The Corner

We are entering the examination phase of the schooling. Students are busy preparing themselves for PMR, SPM and STPM. This is the time for them to burn the midnight oil in order to pass their examination with flying colours. 

I want to share with the readers two of my best students' writing. 

Siti Nur Fatihah binti Abdul Latif (5Arif)

       It was a difficult decision but I had made my choice. I am going to enter that creepy house and stay there overnight. My friends and I had been lost in the forest and the day was already dark. We really did not have any other choices.

      Slowly I approached the door. Predictably, it was not locked. The door and the floor that I stepped on did make sounds. Meanwhile, my friends just stood still timidly behind me. They were staring anxiously at me. Their eyes spoke to me that they did not want to enter the house.

       “Oh, come on. The night is getting late and it’s going to rain soon. Do you want to stay out there and wet yourself? Do not be such a coward, there is nothing in here. It is just an old house.”

       I persuaded them to come and join me. I gathered my courage and stepped in first. It was gloomy and I could not see anything. I took my torchlight and switched it on. There were a few broken furniture and the stuffs were all in mess.

       “Okay girls, it is clear. There is nothing to be afraid of and we are going to sleep here this night. Tomorrow morning, we will find our way out. I promise.”

       We set up a fire and sat down in a circle. We took out our foods and drinks then we dug in hungrily. Why not? We had been wandering the forest for about six hours looking for a way out.

       My friends were not scared anymore. We were having fun until we heard a knocking sound on the door. We became silent for a while and stared at each other. Slowly, my friends adjusted their sit and came nearer to me.

       “It is alright. It is just a sound. Maybe we should go to sleep right now.”

       I calmed myself as my heart was beating too fast due to that sound. My friends and I set up the place for sleep and shut our eyes. I tried to ignore the sound but it became louder than earlier. My friends were snoring already as they were too tired and sleepy.

       I decided to wake up to figure out what made the sound. I opened the door and luckily there was nothing. I guessed that the sound came from the door that was not shut properly and the wind blowing in and out made the creepy sounds. It was still raining cats and dogs outside.

       Out of the blue, a tree fell down in front of the door. I was startled by it but fortunately, the tree did not cause any damage to this old house that we stayed in. I promptly closed the door and went to get some sleep. The knocking sounds were still there but I just ignored it. At long last, I managed to close my eyes and slept soundly.

       I was snoring when one of my friends woke me up. She said she heard sounds of somebody’s steps outside the house. She told me to go out and investigate. Reluctantly, I dragged my feet towards the door yawning and indolently looked outside. There was nobody.

       “Aha, the trees must be walking just now. Look! There is nobody outside. Now, go back to your sleep.” I joked, angrily.

       It was a hard night for me as my friends woke me up every time they heard sounds. The next day, my eyes looked as black as panda bear’s eyes as a result of sleep disturbance. We managed to find our way out with the help of the people that we met. They were hiking in the forest and were willing to help us. Maybe in the next time, I will not be going to enter forests again but my experiences in that eerie house will not easily be forgotten.

Nur Atikah binti Ramli (5 Arif)

       It was a difficult decision but I had made my choice. I could not hold it anymore. Her behaviour and everything she did really made me sick with her. I could not forgive her mistakes and I could not take it easy.

       Last month, I finally knew everything she did. She was just like a snake in the grass. It all started when I told her about my beloved necklace that was missing.

       “I lost my precious necklace. It was a birthday gift from my mother. What can I do?” I asked her.

      “Keep your shirt on! I promise that I will help you to look for it or else I will look for the exactly same necklace at the marketplace and buy it for you,” Laura laughed with false merriment as she tried to pull my leg. I did not know then that she was not the genial and genuine Laura I used to know.

       I almost forgot about my necklace and went on with my life. One day, at the college, my classmates stared at me like I was a total stranger as soon as I walked into the lecture. I could feel something fishy. What had happened? Why were they looking at me like that? I asked Laura about this. She was just quiet and the look on her face had told me that something bad had happened.

       As we were good friends, I always told her about my problems. She would always be beside me and asked me to keep my hair on. My life was filled with stress and tension but Laura always made me smile and laugh. I guessed that she also felt stressed with what had happened.

       Laura told me that someone had pulled a prank on me. The person told everything that was false about me on social network. My word! What mistake had I done to make the person do such a foolish thing? I was really angry and eager to know who the person was. This situation really haunted my life to the point that it even disturbed my dreams.

       I went to college after skipping my class for a week. One of my classmates, Tina met me and sheepishly asked for an apology for ignoring me. I smiled genuinely and told her that I already forgot what had happened. It was not her fault. She thanked me and I asked her where was Laura. The class was finished and I did not see her yet.

       “Are you pretending to be ignorant or do you really don’t know?” Tina asked me, perplexed.

       “What is that supposed to mean? Is there something that I do not know? Where is Laura? I haven’t met her yet.” I asked her back.

       “Oh! My God! Are you serious? Everyone in this college knows about this and you are, of all the people, the only one who does not know. Believe me! You are really funny,” She chuckled and told me everything.

       I rushed to Laura’s house. I could not believe with what I heard just now. I needed to know the truth. I immediately called her as soon as I arrived at her house. She came out with a slumberous face.

       “You already know, right? There are no more words. I do not want to explain anything. Get out of my house!” She screamed at me.

       “Why did you do this to me? You are the person who pulled the prank on me. Good grief! You pretended to be kind to me,” I screamed at her back.

       “You steal my boyfriend Adam! Do you still want me to be kind with you?” She said with teary eyes.

       I could not believe her. Just because of a man, she did something foolish and betrayed our lifelong friendship. I would not forgive her. I had made a choice. From that moment on, she would not be my friend anymore. I did not want to have a friend like her. She was just another painful memory to me. What she did not know was that I did not steal her boyfriend. I was just friends with Adam and her jealousy made her do such stupid thing. Nonetheless, it was not useful to cry over spilt milk. The secret had hurt me but I just wanted to forget about it and went on with my life. Letting the cat out of the bag really hurt me.