Badminton Tournament SMKCE

Relieving stress is essential in order for us to work efficiently. There are many ways to relieve stress, and it is up to us to choose them accordingly. They can be in the form of reading, chatting or even eating. 

My school teachers found out that playing badminton also serves this purpose effectively. We divided ourselves into four groups:

Group A : Mr. Ghazali (Principal), Mr. Azmi (Senior Assistant of Administration), Mr. Wan Ridhauddeen, Ustaz Zahari, Mr. Zulkhairi and  Mr. Asfayuzie. 

Group B : Mr. Zulkifli, Mr. Wan Rahiman (Senior Assistant of Co-Curricular Activities), Mr. Adnan Mahmud, Mr. Ismail, Mr. Che Mohd Nasir, Mr. Mazlan Rahim and Yours Truly.

Group C : Mr. Adnan Ahmad (Senior Assistant of Form Six), Mr. Tuan Muhd Shafri, Mr. Lan (Teacher Sunita's husband), Mr. Mat Rani, Mr. Imran and Mr. Yusof (Warden).

Group D : Mr. Fatihi, Mr. Zaidi, Mr. Ridhwan, Mr. Osman, Mr. Mazlan Wahab and Mr. Shukri.

It is hard to believe that after all this while, the principal is still a very good badminton player. He was paired with Mr. Asfayuzie and they won all their games handsomely. Group A benefited from that pairing and they won the tournament with 7 points. 

I was paired with Mr. Mazlan Rahim in Group B. Although we also won both our matches, our group only managed to be second because of a dubious tie breaker (I never knew how it was counted) after getting the same amount of points (7 points). 

Group D was third with 3 points and Group C was last without any win (0 point). 

The results were announced in the final year dinner held at Perdana Hotel, Kota Bharu.

Book Review - Yesterday I was a Doctor

Title : I want to tell a story : Yesterday, I was a Doctor

Author / Publisher : Mohd Nazir Mohd Nazori
Pages : 155
Price : RM10.00
ISBN : 978-967-12789-0-1

I bought the book at his parents' house on 20th Oct 2014. I started reading it at 6.15 p.m. that day and I finished at 2.15 a.m. the next day.

About the author 

He is my cousin's eldest son. I heard about his ordeals but never really know what happened until I read this book. I think I was also in the time period mentioned in the book when I went to the state where his then workplace is situated because my wife was posted there. I stayed at his in-laws house for some days during which I was in touch with him for quite some time. I have heard about his problem from my mother but I never really asked him about it because I was engrossed in searching for my wife's accommodation. Luckily, I was not mentioned in the book as an antagonist, much to my relief. 

For me, he is quite a nice and soft-spoken guy. He really respects the elders, based on what I perceive whenever we meet, especially towards his aunt (my mother). I never really saw this coming as I have always regarded him as a good achiever, being the eldest son of an architect and a lecturer. 

About the book

It is written in the story-telling style, using first person narrative. The foreword was written on my birthday, which really pleases me a lot. Nobody's name is mentioned in the book, which actually preserves the animosity of those involved. The cover is artful enough and it complements the title. It has ten chapters, all of which are unevenly written in terms of page allocations. It targets mainly those who experience the same problem - depression - with the hope that it will help them to deal with the problem properly. 

Personal comments

As I am teaching English, I could not help noticing the grammatical mistakes. I could find at least three reading the Acknowledgement alone, not to mention the whole book. However, I understand that this is a personally published book, which is surely not including some professional proofreading, so I will neglect the errors and focus on the content. His vocabulary is wide though, arguably wider than mine, and it is understandable considering that he was in the United Kingdom during childhood and continued his study there after the SPM. 

In terms of the physical side of the book, there are some flaws. The cover, in my humble opinion, should have the title written on its spine, which will be of some help when the book is stored on a bookshelf. Furthermore, there is no content page, so I had to browse the book page by page to count the number of chapters. On the other hand, the book should have a page where the author explains all the jargon used in the book, as I struggled to understand the meaning of MO, HO, CBT or PSY, just to name a few. To be fair, the author tried to explain some of them using side notes.

The content of the book is basically easy. It portrays the author's life story starting from the time when he remembers it until the ultimate defining moment of his resignation. I really learned something new about this particular cousin of mine, and would relish the chance to meet him again after becoming an author. I agree that the topic of depression should be discussed more deeply and the the sufferer should be treated more fairly before any judgment could be made.

I salute his decision of not mentioning any names in the book, but I personally think that his name should also be hidden under a pen name because nowadays we can trace anything based on the tiniest piece of information. In this particular case, somebody may dig up even the name of the hospital where the event took  place.    

Conclusion

I really enjoyed reading the book and would not stop short in recommending this to everybody, especially those main target readers. To know more about the book, click here to visit the page dedicated for it. 

September Test K-BAT Questions

These questions need to be answered using a little bit of thinking, which is quite a luxury among students nowadays. 

Alina had just arrived home from attending a job interview. She felt utterly miserable. 

1. Why does Aline feel this way?
- She did badly in the interview.

2. Why do you think so?
- She felt utterly miserable.

Jack finished reading a book. He jumped at the slightest noise and dared not sleep alone in his room.

1. Why does Jack feel this way?

- He was scared.

2. What is the book about?

- The book was about ghosts.

3. Why do you think so?

- He jumped at the slightest noise and dared not sleep alone in his room. 

Father came in from the garden. His hands were full of dirt. He was sweating profusely. He finished two big glasses of iced lemonade. 

1. What was father doing?

- Father was gardening.

2. What was the weather like outside?

- The weather was hot outside.

3. Why do you think so?

- He was sweating profusely.

When Mr. Jones opened the front door, he saw the sitting room was in a mess. The drawers of the cabinet were pulled out. Some chairs were overturned. A few keys were on the floor. A fifty dollar note that Mrs. Jones left on the dining table together with the electricity bill was missing. 

1. What had happened?

- Someone had broken into Mr. Jones house.

2. Why do you think so?

- The drawers of the cabinet were pulled out. Some chairs were overturned. A few keys were on the floor. A fifty dollar note that Mrs. Jones left on the dining table together with the electricity bill was missing.

Ali looked gloomily out of his bedroom window. He saw a few of his friends were flying kites in the field. He could not join them. His mother would not allow him to do so.

1. What was wrong with Ali?

- He was sick.

2. Why do you think so?

- Ali looked gloomily out of his bedroom window. He saw a few of his friends were flying kites in the field. He could not join them. His mother would not allow him to do so.

There is a real need for medical staff to be placed at all NS training centres. If an emergency occurs, who is there to give the initial treatment for any injuries or accidents? Now with 700 to 800 trainees in each camp, who is qualified to treat or provides the necessary first aid that may save a person's life?

1. Why is there a need for medical staff to be stationed in NS training centres?

- They are needed to tend to emergency cases.

2. What probably led to the writer's appeal for medical staff?

- Probably there had been some trainees falling ill at the training centre.

3. Do you think the writer is against NS training?

- No, she wants the trainees to be well-looked after in case they fall ill.

4. What would be the role of the medical staff at NS training centres?

- Their role is to give initial treatment for any injuries or accidents.

 

Google Street View

The Taman al Kaff mosque

WOW! This is my first word after using the Google Street View. The above screen shot shows the mosque of Taman al Kaff, Tanah Merah situated in front of my father-in-law's house. You may click here to see the surrounding of the housing area. However, you might need to guess which is his house because I am not telling you!

From what I can see, the privacy is not an issue here because the faces and other important details such as house numbers and car plates are blurred. Nevertheless, if your details are shown, don't worry because there is something which can be done. You may read a post here showing how to delete those details.

The entrance to my village

As to my house, it seems that the Google vehicle could not enter deep into the 'jungle' and stopped just at the entrance of the road. Click here to see what is shown nearest to my house. 

Have fun searching for yours!