The Lost World of Tambun

If you want to play water-based games, The Lost World of Tambun is the place to be. There will be a natural hot water pool, a main adult pool, a children pool, Tube Raider, water walk and many others to keep you and your family occupied from the morning until the evening. The fees were reasonable, but better still, you should come as a group and the fees will be more worthwhile. Put on the bar-coded bracelet on your wrist and you are ready to go. I went there with my mother's office mates and their families for their family day gathering. Although I did not participate in many of the events, I did enjoy watching them play, especially the kids. After that, we brought our tired limb and lodged in at Sun Inns hotel before going up the Cameron Highlands the next day.

Happy Birthday, My Son

4th March 2009 - It's been a year since my son, 'Ammar, was born to this world. Time was moving so fast I didn't even realized that 'Ammar is now a one-year-old handsome boy. We held a birthday party at Budiman 2, Jedok. The party started with the recitation of selawat. Then, 'Ammar cut the cake (with the help of his beloved father) and distributed it to the guests, who include his Mama To', To' Ayah, To' Bah, To' Ma, Cik Lang, Ucu, To' Teh, To' Su and many others. Afterwards, 'Ammar played the ballons until he felt sleepy. The party was a success, and I thanked all the guests before kissing him goodnight and headed for KB.

Some pictures from the party (especially for you, my darling):

Eduwebtv, Digital Education for All

I'm now at BTPN, Pengkalan Chepa for a course on Eduwebtv. Basically, it is a 2-days course on how to effectively use Eduwebtv, a website by the Ministry of Education. It officially started on 1st March 2008 and has 7 types of programmes, including:

1. News on events and activities under the MOE
2. Interviews with MOE personalities
3. Academical talk where teachers share their knowledge in respective fields
4. Documentaries
5. Interactive
6. TV Programmes on education
7. Live MOE events

You can download the circular at this website.

On day 2 of the course, we presented some PNPs by using the videos we get from Eduwebtv. I was in Group 5 with Jasmani from SMK Chiku 2, Rafeah from SMK Paloh and Zanariah from SK Sri Wakaf Bharu.

Here are some pictures from the course:

Tuan Haji Ibrahim bin Deris shared his knowledge with the participants

Group 5 (from left) : Jasmani, Rafeah, Zanariah and Yours Truly

Ashiq, Tuan Haji Ibrahim's assistant

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:

Prefect & Librarian Inauguration Ceremony

The prefects of the school are like the policemen working for the school government. As such, they should be appointed accordingly so that their powers will be duly acknowledged. This is important so that their powers would not be questioned by the would be criminals. Thus, the school held an inauguration ceremony each year for all the prefects and also the librarians. They were given a certificate each to show that the school administration has given them the license to uphold the school's rules and regulations. The prefects were appointed from different ethnicity, as an evidence for the diversity of the school itself. This year's ceremony was officiated by Tuan Haji Fazam Mat Ladzim, the manager of the Community Development of KESEDAR, Gua Musang. The pledge was succesfully led by Abdul Rashizolze, the Head Prefect after the opening speech by Tuan Haji Fazam.

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.

School Chess Player Selection

Today, I finished selecting the students to represent our school in the upcoming district tournament. Not many students were present, but some of those have the talent to compete. But first, I need to polish them before there are ready for tournament play. Unfortunately though, only one female student came. This situation is the same as the national scene--there is simply not enough female chess players. If there is any, they would stop after they got married. Many examples can be quoted, but suffice to say that it is a sad scenario for Malaysian chess.

YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE

When you walk through a storm

hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of a storm is a golden sky

And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown.

Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never, ever walk alone.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart

And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never, ever walk alone.

Chess Club is No More

This new year brings sadness to SMKTIP(2) Chess Club. Apart from being a club, it is now regarded as only a sport, thus no chairman or committee members are required. On the bright side, it is good for us that no annual meeting is needed. But, the downside is that it is hard to organise programmes, internally or externally, when there is no board members to do the work. However, for me as the advisor, or now called as a coach, I welcome this change as I have so many things to do. Handling a club requires more of my time than coaching a sport, which merely requires finding the talents and grooming them to participate in tournaments.

Gender Imbalance

This week, two more teachers got their transfer requests fulfilled. It so happen that both of them already served more than five years in Gua Musang. This leads to gender imbalance of the remaining teachers in my school as all those who are transferred here are females (10 of them), except for one from Cameron Highlands, while those who got away from this school are more balanced (6 females, 7 males). It is hard to put the male teachers to all the important tasks, therefore female teachers have to be more independent when given the task to head some departments. Again, I am given the job as the ICT teacher, as well as the manager of the students' data system (SMM).

First Day of School

Today is the first day of school in Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah. Without the business of registration, which was done yesterday, the PNP should have started. I am given the task to teach English to Form 5 Tekun, 5 Prestij (the last of all the form 5 classes), 4 Sejahtera and 2 Sejahtera. I am also given one Moral class. I never teach Moral before, but there is always the first step for everything. When I was in class 5 Tekun, one officer from the JPN came to observe. I was not shocked, as it was already told in the first meeting yesterday that there will be somebody to ensure that classes starts on the first day of school. He sat at the back for a while, took a picture of me teaching with his digital camera, looked at my lesson plan, then got out through the back door after waving to me to go on with my lesson. Luckily I finished writing my lesson plan, or else there will be talking to after that. Lesson plan is the most important thing to teachers, failing which could be fined for a sum of RM500 - RM5000.

First Teachers' Meeting and Registration of Form 1 Students

Today, Form 1 students from feeder schools registered their names. There are 9 classes opened for the new students namely 1 Khas, 1 Teguh, 1 Iltizam, 1 Proaktif, 1 Sejahtera, 1 Tekun, 1 Ikhlas, 1 Prestij and also 1 Sukma. After that, they went to the 4th floor to take the textbooks. This is to ensure that tomorrow's PNP will be smooth as silk. It is refreshing to look at those innocent faces, who are new to the surroundings, wearing their new school uniforms to the school.

After the registration, there was a meeting for all the teachers where the principal and all the senior assistants gave their speeches. It was told that 5 of our students got 8As in their PMR. This is a school record! My mentee only got 7As and a B for Sejarah. Nevertheless, those students already made our school proud. In this meeting also all the teachers got their teaching schedules and school tasks. I was assigned to teach English for Form 2, Form 4 and Form 5 students, together with a Form 2 Pendidikan Moral class. Tonight, I have to prepare my first lesson plan.

Congratulations, PMR Students!

Today, PMR students will know the fruit of their labour for nearly three years of studying, whether they pass or fail, whether to smile or to cry, whether to bloat in front of their friends or to cloak their face in shame. My brother obtained 5As much to my surprise as he is playing a lot and I don't recall a time when I see him studying. While my sister-in-law obtained 4As even though she studied a lot. Maybe some of you will say that this is unfair to the latter, but it is truly not the case. Even though we work effortlessly, it is not the only reason for our success. There are other causes which we have to take a look closely. For example, a lot of studying without understanding what you study is not good, comparing to studying a little but you understand it fully. Moreover, as Muslims, we must believe that there is also the case of fate, of rizq. You can work all you want, but if you are not entitled for success this time around, you must accept it. Maybe your fate will be better in SPM, who knows?

Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia

What the heck is that? Well, the first time I encounter this word is when I finished my quest, I mean, my game of Bookworm Adventure Deluxe, when the hero (a bookworm named Lex, of course!) throws his final attack to the enemy's boss to save the Great Library from destruction. Initially, I thought that it is a made up word, the hero being using weird words throughout the game. However, accidentally I bumped into this article when I read my New Straits Times, (actually, my younger brother did before me, and being with me all the time fighting the enemies he told me about this article. I admit when I read newspapers, I will go from back page because of the sports) today. The word is clearly mentioned with its meaning. So, seriously, how many of you know that many words you think you know? Well, according to the article, there are already 999,999 words in English language, and the millionth word will be submitted in April 2009. The reason for this? English language does not have the equivalent of Malay language's Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka (DBP) to monitor its development. Thus, it can accommodate or transform many other words from other languages to its vocabulary.

As for the game itself, I will give it a rating of 5/5 as an English teacher!

'I-DUL ADHA MUBARAK!

Greetings to all Muslims with the hope of prosperity and happiness. Although, I was not that happy today as my son was down with fever. We spent the morning sponging him to bring down the temparature. Alhamdulillah, after repeated sponging + giving him medicine every 4 hours, he cooled down. Nevertheless, we managed to visit my wife's aunt before returning home an hour later. No socializing today because my mind was preoccupied with this event as it is the first time he ever had a fever. It was so sad seeing him crying, which is alien to his characteristics. I hope that this can be a very helpful experience for future reference.

Some reference which I read on how to face fever for your kids.

http://www.mymomsbest.com/dealing-with-high-fever-fits-cough-cold-watery-stools.htm
http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/tools/symptom/504.html
http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/body/fever.html

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.