Edu Ria at SMKCE featuring Kecik TRW

Learning should not only be done inside a classroom; it is actually best to learn outside the classroom. There are lots of things which can be learned - interacting with people, business and marketing, and information gathering from various sources are only to name a few - and all these cannot be found inside a classroom full of broken chairs and desks. 

Edu Ria (or Education Enjoyment in English) is the sort of programme organised by SMK Chabang Empat which allows the students to implement the theories they have learned through the interaction at the stalls, exhibition booths and also through segments on the Dewan To' Beta stage.

To top it off, the school invites one of the members of The Red Warriors, Mr. Wan Zaharulnizam or Kecik, to meet the students. It was a golden opportunity for the students to meet their favourite player, and boy they really took it. Kecik was surrounded by the students from the moment he entered the school premise until he left an hour later. They took the opportunity to take pictures with him and asked for his autograph.With a smile on his face, he professionally interacted with his fans and they really loved him. 

The teachers were also starstruck, and I was one of them. Luckily, we had more opportunities than the students to take pictures with him. I was the first one to greet him when he arrived but I took pictures with him only half an hour later inside the school office. 

In a way, I am at least equal to him. He is the state football player and I am the state chess player. However, chess is not popular in Kelantan compared to football, so the admiration for him and The Red Warriors is more and the admiration for me and The Red Knights is virtually non-existent. 

Maybe it is the difference between a professional player and a semi-professional player. Luckily for the football players, they got out of the semi-pro label in the 1990s and only God knows when the chess players can be professional players in Malaysia.

Kecik in action

Me in action

Some pictures taken from the event (if you want these pictures in high resolution, do come over to my desk):

History Repeats Itself

History is a boring subject, so said many of the students. This is because they have to memorize lots of dates, names, blah blah blah. They always murmur that they don't have 8GB memory like their smartphones' memory card. 

However, history can be quite interesting, if studied in a creative way. Take for instance, Hiro Nakamura in the Heroes TV Series, constructed an interesting web strings in order to learn the history (and also the future). 

A web of history created by Hiro Nakamura

By studying History, we can sometimes predict the future. As an ardent fan of Liverpool Football Club, reading  this piece of historical information taken from a LFC Forum gives me goosebumps! (Keep in mind that my birthday is 25 January).

Shankly was born in a year ending with 3 - 1913, and won his 1st league title in a year ending with 4, 1964; Rodgers was born in a year ending 3-1973, and is 4 games away from winning his 1st league title in a year ending with 4, 2014.

Shankly won his 1st title in his second year in the league with Liverpool; Rodgers is about to win his 1st title with Liverpool in his 2nd season in charge.

Shankly shared a birthday with his son and a former great manager; Rodgers shares a birthday with his son and a great manager Jose Mourinho (26 January). 

Shankly won the league title after beating Man United 1-0 and 3-0; Rodgers is about to win the league title after beating Man United 1-0 and 3-0.

Shankly was top on Christmas; Rodgers was top on Christmas.

Shankly went top again after beating Tottenham on 30 March 1964; Rodgers went top again after beating Tottenham on 30 March 2014.

Shankly beat Arsenal with 5 goals but was knocked out of F.A Cup by the same Arsenal; Rodgers beat Arsenal with 5 goals but was later knocked out of F.A Cup by the same Arsenal.

Shankly ordered the goal nets to be painted red on his way to winning 1st league title; Rodgers ordered the goal nets to be painted red on his way to winning 1st league title.

picture taken from here

So, hopefully, Gerrard and co. will get to lift the coveted title in May, and hopefully, history will repeat itself!

picture taken from here

sources:

http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/special/can-history-predict-future.html
http://forums.liverpoolfc.com/threads/356222-Shankly-and-Rodgers-How-is-this-for-Omens
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Shankly
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan_Rodgers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Mourinho
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963%E2%80%9364_Football_League
http://int.soccerway.com/matches/1964/03/30/england/premier-league/liverpool-fc/tottenham-hotspur-football-club/587409/ 
http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/story-behind-our-new-red-nets
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/History+repeats+itself

The New Red Warriors & MH370

This week is the week of good and bad news. The bad news is, our Prime Minister has announced that the flight MH370 has 'ended' its journey in the middle of the Indian Ocean and that all those on board did not survive. It ended a fortnight of uncertainty of the fate of the Boeing 777ER (picture below) and presented a mind-boggling mystery for the flight experts all over the world. As a Malaysian through and through, I feel for those involved, especially the relatives of the passengers and the crews, as many of them were Malaysians. I refrained from posting about all the theories and conspiracies out of respect for them, and this is my first and maybe last posting on this subject. Deep inside, I still hope that there will be survivors, but I may accept that the chances are quite slim.

The good news is, The Red Warriors welcome several new players. Brendan Gan, Mohd Fitri Omar and Wan Zack Haikal will surely make TRW stronger in the remaining of the Malaysian Super League. Currently, TRW is third in the standing with 13 points, the same points tally with the league leaders, Terengganu. For starters, let us cheer them up when we 'entertain' Johor Darul Takzim tonight at the Sultan Mohd IV stadium.

GOMO KELATE GOMO!