Gua Musang Stop

I was on my way from KL when I stopped at the Gua Musang Stop. I don't mean the RNR near the Sungai Asap, but rather the one not far from the Gua Musang roundabout. It is a new stop with facilities such as a musolla, toilets and also food courts. There are also parking lots for buses. All in all, I like the stop because it is an alternative to the RNR stop where all the cars coming and going to KL stop by everyday, especially during the holidays. However, there is something which they must improve on, that is to prepare more foods during the holidays when there will be more customers coming by. I found it hard to buy food when I stopped that day, and I had to settle for a burger only because other foods were already finished.

My Student's Best Effort

This is my student's best effort for her English lesson. Try to understand the essay, it's enjoyable, really. Plus, it is really rare to find a student at the school who will write this long.

Last school holiday, I and family opportunity finish time altogether grandfather and grandmother at village. We village place at Kota Bharu Kelantan. Reason we related return village have for to visit grandfather and grandmother who rich far from we. Beside that also, we agong to visit sibling advance who complete old no encounter.

Arrive at there, grandfather and grandmother welcome return we related. With smile who sweet we shake hand with grandfather and grandmother. At there we earn looking scenery what intensely see and interesting. Foresee paddy-field who spread out broad at there shere amaze with scenery who see. We also earn looking will raillery who green encompass village we.

At cleave afternoon, grandfather bring we orchard fruit. Correct at break never this season fruit at village we. Diverse fruit who looking cook see fruit watermelon, fruit mango, fruit durian and fruit mangosteen. Free cite fruit we altogether return at house and rest.

At tomorrow morning, I, brother and sister go at river akin friend who dissimilar see zuki, aiman, siti and mira for angle fish. We also agong finish time akin they because we guess diaphanous encounter already old omit at Kuala Lumpur. For add anew happiness we, we catch finish with applied net and casting-net. Looking many fish who hung at net we see catfish.

At time afternoon again, grandfather bring we encompass village while looking area livestock animals see cow, goat, bird and rabbit. We earn looking see animal at there. Brother catch photo bird camel and bird peacock for at become memory when we return at Kuala Lumpur bide.

Already one week we leave at there, nowadays arrive time for we return at Kuala Lumpur for back to school. Feel happy convert become sorrow looking at to mak smooth or fine lineament grandfather and grandmother before we family omit. We so very happy when rich at village although happen assume it one memory who sweet and no earn we forget. - Anonymous

sisMAKAN

I just finished a course on sisMAKAN, a system for recording information of the school canteen. I am now an official JU (head coach) for Gua Musang SMM, and now also the JU for sisMAKAN. As in previous post, I was down with food poisoning, so I am particularly keen to uphold this system and make it work. This system is made compulsory for nationwide schools, so all the reported food poisoning will be recorded in the system, as well as the schools' actions when hit with the problem. The course was presented by Mr. Haris Fadzli bin Awang, from SMK Convent, Klang. The course was conducted at the Kota Bharu PPD near SMK Zainab at Telipot.

Hospitalised!

I applaud the recently kicked off 'Ops Gempur Kantin' by the Kelantan JPN not only because of the noble cause, but from my own experience. I was admitted to Tanah Merah Hospital for one whole day because of food poisoning. It started when I ate at the school canteen on Thursday (21 May 2009) during lunch, after which I started feeling nauseous. I drove from Gua Musang and started vomitting at Kuala Krai. Luckily I arrived safely at my father-in-law house in Tanah Merah. For two days afterwards, I vomitted all my food, which couldn't find their way to my stomach. The third day, Sunday 24th, my father-in-law sent me to the emergency ward and I was held for lost of lots of body fluids. 10 bags later, and after a night at the ward, I was released. The doctor gave me a whole week to recover my body strength, which I gladly taken because I was feeling so weak. Frankly speaking, I am still to have my full body strength, but I am grateful to Allah because of this beneficial experience.

Now I know how the students feel when hit with food poisoning.

EduwebTV Course Successful?

The internal course was conducted from 28 - 29th April at the school Access Centre. It was a follow up course after the course I attended early last month. Fifteen fellow colleagues, teaching various subjects, attended the course. I tried my best to share my knowledge of how to benefit from the educational portal. However, I would be lying if I said that it was a completely satisfying course. There were many glitches, mainly concerning technicality of playing the videos, which are the most important part of this course. I did not have ample time to check every computer used for this course, thus rendering these technical slip-ups to happen. Sorry to all the participants, but luckily they did not return home empty handed. They knew how make a playlist, download a video, and how to use it beneficially in their PNPs.

Some pictures from the course:

EduwebTV Course

Tomorrow, I will be conducting the EduwebTV course for the teachers. It will be a two-day course because it is held during the school day. For starters, I only open it to 20 teachers on the first-come-first-serve basis. I will see if this course is a successful one, I will consider conducting another in the near future. I know that many of them do not have the opportunity to attend courses outside the school, thus slimming their chance of fulfilling the 7 days annual requirement for the in-service training. Therefore, they really need this course and any other courses in order to complete their requirement.

Blue Team Won Again!

Today, the students ran approximately 6 kilometres for the cross country event. There were 6 categories altogether; Category A for Form 4 and 5 students, Category B (Form 2 and 3) and Category C (Form 1) for both the boys and the girls. The students represented their respective teams; Blue, Red, Green and Yellow teams, and the points gathered by them were accumulated for the overall team standings. Same as last year, the Blue team won by miles, followed by Red, Green and Yellow teams. It was always the same arguments; the athletes were not divided accordingly across the teams and most of them gathered in the Blue team. Hopefully, next year's event will be very competitive, and not a one-sided event like the previous years.

Some memorable moments in pictures:

CASTROL Go to School

There were Mat Rempit in town, good Mat Rempits.. Actually, the Ministry of Education signed an MoU with Castrol Malaysia to initiate the Castrol Go to School Programme. The purpose of the programme is to inculcate safe and smart motorcycling culture. The programme was officially launched by Deputy Education Minister, Dato' Noh bin Haji Omar on 13th February 2007. Today, the legendary motorcycling legend, Mr. Wazi bin Abdul Hamid himself came to our school to educate the students, especially the lucky 200 participants who got the chance to ride the motorcycles brought by the organiser, on the safe and smart ways to behave on the streets. It consists of the techniques to control the motorcycle through a lane marked by cones, and also braking the motorcycle safely from a high speed. For safety reasons, the selected students wore safety pads and crash helmets.

Here are some pictures of the historical event:

Helmy Lost to Two 'Zul's and Missed Out, Nearly..

Mohd Helmy Rasnan from 5 Science missed out on the chance to represent the state in the MSSM chess tournament held in SMK Jeli recently. He lost to Zulhilmi in round 4 and lost to Zulhasime in round 6, which dented his hope to be the first state chess representative from SMKTIP(2). The result of our school representatives in the tournament:

Boys under-18
7 from 63 players - Mohd Helmy Rasnan

Boys under-15
24/63 - Mohd Khairul Azman
33/63 - Mohd Zulhusni Abdul Aziz

For more information, please go to this blog.

SMKTIP(2) Players Shine In Jerek

Alhamdulillah, we just finished our selection for students to represent the district of Gua Musang in the upcoming MSSM chess tournament in Jeli later this month. 36 students from various schools made up the 6 categories consisting of boys and girls under-12, under-15 and under 18. From my observation, I found that the standard of play among these students have increased--less stalemates and more spectacular moves happened in the 3 days tournament. What made this tournament more memorable was the participation of a physically disabled student who moved the pieces with his feet. Even though he did not make the final cut, we must applaud his efforts and dedication. Last year's state representative, Md Lokman of boys under -12, also managed to cruise through. The full list of players:

Boys under 18:
- Mohd Helmy (SMK Tengku Indra Petra 2)
- Saiful Azhar (SMK Chiku 2)
- Mohd Khalimun (SMK Paloh)
- Zulkifli (SMK Chiku 2)
- Mohd Khairul Anuar (SMK Tengku Bendahara)
- Mohd Ikhram (SMK Tengku Bendahara)

Boys under 15:
- Mohd Zulhusni (SMK Tengku Indra Petra 2)
- Ahmad Wafi (SMK Paloh)
- Nor Arrashid (SMK Tengku Bendahara)
- Mohd Khairul Azman (SMK Tengku Indra Petra 2)
- Mohd Faizzuddin (SMK Tengku Bendahara)
- Mohd Firdaus (SMK Chiku 2)

Boys under 12:
- Mohd Lokman (SK Paloh 1&2)
- Mohd Ikram (SK Chiku 3)
- Mohd Afiq (SK Chiku 3)
- Ahmad Muzammil (SK Sri Wangi)
- Mohd Shahrul Nazli (SK Limau Kasturi 2)
- Fakhri Ariffin (SK Sri Wangi)

Girls under 18:
- Noorhayati (SMK Paloh)
- Siti Rokiah (SMK Paloh)
- Nurhayati (SMK Chiku 2)
- Nurul Asmaniza (SMK Sungai Asap)
- Halimatu Saadiah (SMK Sungai Asap)
- Roslaila (SMK Tengku Bendahara)

Girls under 15:
- Safinah (SMK Sungai Asap)
- Nur Lidaini (SMK Chiku 2)
- Siti Nuraini (SMK Paloh)
- Nor Laila (SMK Tengku Bendahara)
- Nurul Ain Farahanim (SMK Sungai Asap)
- Maizatul Nadia (SMK Sungai Asap)

Girls under 12:
- Wan Nur Farzana (SK Paloh 1&2)
- Nursyazwani (SK Paloh 1&2)
- Siti Norhaziqah (SK Paloh 1&2)
- Nur Anis Nabila (SK Paloh 1&2)
- Noratikah (SK Limau Kasturi 2)
- Siti Nur Illyana (SK Chiku 3)

Below are pictures from the event:

How To Coach Youngsters

I am the coach for my school, and also the head coach for the Gua Musang team for MSSM, but I am still finding the best approach to coach these youngsters. No doubt that there are many potentials in the school team, and many more will be discovered when the district tournament is over next week, but all these will account to nothing if I could not find the best practical way to improve their skills and techniques. Last year I tried to instill everything from the opening to the ending part of the game, but still the younger ones, especially under-12s, made unnecessary moves, or moved against all that been taught. This year, with limited time for the central training compared to last year, I will try to focus only on what I think is necessary for their development. Moreover, I will try to personally coach only several who I think have the most potentials to make any inroads in the state championship.

Confirmation of Chess Activities MSSM

The dates of chess tournaments have been confirmed. The district selection will be on the 9th - 11th of February at SMK Tengku Bendahara, Jerek, while the dates for state selection will be on the 19th - 24th of February in Jeli. After that, the national championship will be held in Selangor on the 16th - 20th of March 2009. I am training my charges so that at least one of them will represent the state for the national championship, although I don't mind if any of the district players (also under my charges as the district head coach) gets the call. Last year, one of the students from Gua Musang district manage to fly the state flag at the national championship in Melaka.

Freak Accident in Kuala Krai

I was on my way to Gua Musang to fulfill my in-holiday task which was assigned by the principal for every teachers when I witnessed an accident at Sg. Sam between a Toyota Unser and a Mutiara bus which killed four members of Perbadanan Perpustakaan Negeri Kelantan (PPAK). All four of them died on the spot because of severe injury and were still lying on the road when I passed by the accident venue. My wife and son did not dare to take a look as I watched the bodies covered with the black sheet lying side by side on the road. It is said that the Unser tried to overtake two cars on the downhill road and could not get back into its lane before colliding head on with the oncoming bus. All of the passengers and the drivers of the bus who were heading to Kuala Lumpur were unhurt. In sadness, I recited al-Fatihah and reminded myself to always recite a prayer before driving my car.

Read also Kosmo!, Sinar Harian and Berita Harian online on this tragedy.

Smart School Qualification Standards System

Smart School Qualification Standards (SSQS)

The Ministry has develop a system to monitor the usage of ICT in schools, and to give a rating for the school in order to determine its standard in using the ICT. The information will be gathered from 64 respondents consisting of teachers and students about the extent of their usage of ICT equipments in school such as the computers, the Internet connection and also the Lesson Contents Management System (LCMS). As the teacher responsible for ICT, I was assigned to complete the task. At first, it was so hard to send the information in the system because of the traffic congestion to access the website. Finally, with the alternative address available, I managed to finish the job.

Good Luck for All SPMians

Today is the start of Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination. Around 150 students from 5 classes, 1 of which is a science class, will know whether they have enough knowledge to pass this examination. However, the students are not the only one who feel the pressure, but also the teachers who want to upgrade the achievement from last year. Our main target is to be the best secondary school in the district of Gua Musang, although the passing percentage of Bahasa Melayu is quite a concern. Nevertheless, only 28 students from 147 form 5 students are Chinese, 2 of them Indians, 1 Siamese and 1 Aborigine. The SPM trial results are quite convincing, but the real test starts tomorrow, and the students have to prove themselves all over again. Good luck everybody, and make your school proud!

You can clearly see the scratch mark

Student's Revenge?

Several of the teachers' cars were scratched yesterday by a dissatisfied student. It seemed that this damage was an act of revenge either towards the discipline teacher, or towards the Penolong Kanan HEM, who both did a great job of keeping the disciplinary problems in the school at bay. Unfortunately, other teachers' cars were the victims as the perpetrator rolled his way along the parking lot. Among the cars involved were Produa MyVi, Proton Waja, Proton Satria and Toyota Vios. The culprit, who is still to be caught, might be feeling unhappy with the punishment he got for the crime he committed earlier. It was a selfish act from a disgruntled person which should not be tolerated.

Examination Weeks

These two final weeks, form 1, form 2 and form 4 students will test the extent of their knowledge accumulated throughout the year. This is where they will know whether they really mastered the subjects or still have to make improvements. It is also a tool to measure their class placements for next year, whether they will remain in the same class, or they will be upgraded (or downgraded) to another class. Teachers will have to take their marks to make next year's 'take-off value'.

What Happens to Our Children Nowadays?

Our children are not what they are supposed to be anymore. Gangsterism, vandalism, band-worshiping, fighting, etc. are common, even in a rural school in Gua Musang. We just heard about how two female students kicked and punched their teacher in front of the whole class, while one of them took out a phone and took a video. A teacher's job become more demanding each day, apart from the routine teaching and administrative works, he/she has to be a disciplinarian. I doubt that all teachers in teacher's training courses learn martial arts, as it is a very useful tools to handle (or to protect themselves?) these problems. Nor more 'Yes, teacher' type of students, but more of a 'I will sue you for all your money's worth' type of students. Even the support of their parents do not help matters, they just go about their work without getting to know what their children do at school everyday. Some of them do not bother to come when summoned by the principal, and it makes matters worst.

School Access Centre

School Access Centre (SAC) is a cyber cafe in a school compound, designed to enable students to access the Internet without having to spend valuable money at cyber cafes outside the school. It is sponsored by the Ministry of Education, and for now, only a handful of schools received this generous investment by the ministry. My school is among the fortunate ones, and it is functioning well for the students' benefit. Moreover, I assigned students as committees to take care of the SAC, and it is a good opportunity for them to learn about responsibilities. I am not worried about the contents of the Internet available to the students though, as it is filtered by the Schoolnet system. Apart from that, students are given the chance to relax themselves after a hard day of study by listening to the music while they are surfing, or sending e-mails, or whatever they do.

The SAC committee members, Nabilah and Ain