A.K.U.G.U.R.U. actually means 'I am a Teacher' (Aku guru in Bahasa Malaysia). It contains all the items related to my profession as a secondary school English teacher which includes my English lessons, my interests, my passion for Liverpool FC, and also my family affairs. Hope you enjoy your reading!

(The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of information taken from this blog.)

ASK ME ANYTHING!

Type your question here and I will find the answer for you.

Monday, October 26, 2009


Timing Chain or Timing Belt?

I am driving a Toyota Avanza 1.3 Manual transmission with a mileage of 87+++ and I am concern about changing the timing belt. But after reading through several articles, I found that my Avanza does not use a timing belt, instead it uses a timing chain. The timing chain, however, does not need regular change (1) and has an almost infinite operating life (2). The only time to change the chain is when the mechanics found it to have been worn out (3). Luckily, the VVT-i technology lessen my worry. It varies the timing and applies oil automatically to the chain (4), resulting in extending its lifespan.




Monday, October 12, 2009

Learn From Nature


It is out of His Mercy that He has put for you night and day, that you may rest therein (i.e. during the night) and that you may seek of His Bounty (i.e. during the day), and in order that you may be grateful. - Al-Qasas : 73

Thursday, October 08, 2009


Guess How Much is This Doughnut?

Last week I went to Pekan Kedai Lalat to accompany my mother buying some breakfast. It was the same as always - full of people, especially on Fridays - because the merchandise there are quite cheap, in my opinion. I was surprise when I asked for the price of the doughnuts, as big as my palm, which was sold at 4 pieces for RM1. That amounts to RM0.25 for each, and I bet you will not find doughnuts that big anywhere, which should cost RM0.50 each elsewhere.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009


Good Luck in Your Exams, PMRians!

Today the PMR exam starts. This is the time to test whether the knowledge you have for the past years still with you or lost when you were 'rempit'ing, or 'lepak'ing etc. There will be no turning back, answer the questions, and hope for the best. Adding some prayers to that will surely help you, no doubt about that.

Saturday, October 03, 2009

Why Internet in Malaysia is So Slow?

This is because of our low broadband quality, according to a study by Oxford University. Malaysians always waste their time waiting for the clicked pages to appear before the screen. Imagine that if we wait for a page for 5 seconds, we will waste 1 minute of our precious time to click 60 pages. And if you are a hardcore Facebook user, for example, you will waste more valuable time, as you do not click less than that, for sure. I hope that the appropriate Ministry will rectify this situation, or we will be left behind in the upcoming global wave.

Monday, September 28, 2009


Another Torres' Hattrick

No comment. The best striker in the world right now. Watch out Chelsea. For all the fans out there, refresh your mind with all the goals. The first is my best, nutmegging a bunch of defenders and beating the goalkeeper at the far post. Truly genius.


Sunday, September 27, 2009


Saudi Prince Wants LFC Investment

An Arabic newspaper reported their interview with a prince who wanted to buy 50% of LFC stakes worth around 200 - 35o million pounds. Saudi Arabia's Prince Faisal bin Fahd bin Abdullah said:

"We are looking at the present time to acquire a 50% stake in the club, which is currently suffering from debts of up to £245 million. The value of the deal, which will be finalized soon, is around £200 million to £350 million pounds".

source: http://www.alriyadh.com

Wednesday, September 23, 2009


One of My Favourite Toy of All Time

The Rubik's Cube is still my favourite toy ever since I was small until now. I still remember the sleepless nights of trying to solve the puzzle, which was at that Internet-less time proven to be quite impossible, except to use the guidance given with the box. I memorized the algorithm then, but failed to summon it up when I tried my sister-in-law's Rubik's cube. A browse in the Internet followed, and here is the solution I found to solve this evergreen puzzle (I'm not going to waste Raya holidays just for solving the cube, hehe).

Monday, September 21, 2009


Torres Fires Liverpool FC to Glory

Last night I watched Torres destroyed West Ham's defense mercilessly. Here are the two goals which sinks the Hammers. The first one is reminiscent of his debut BPL goal against Chelsea, while the second is a powerful striker's header, right at the bottom corner. Enjoy!







Tuesday, September 15, 2009


Liverpool FC New Shirt Sponsor

I always have been hoping for new shirt sponsor for my favourite football club Liverpool FC, because the current sponsor will never be allowed to enter Malaysia. I am glad to read that Standard Chartered will be printed on Torres' shirt starting from July 2010 to 2014 (I hope it will be extended beyond that). This means that I can, in the near future, watch my club in flesh. Moreover, I can contemplate buying the original jersey with the original logo at the front, contrasting to what I've bought so far with 'Liverpool' adjusted from Carlsberg logo. With LFC now in full swing, I hope this partnership will be a success!

Wednesday, September 02, 2009


My Best Scrabble Game Yet

One of my passion is playing board games, especially chess and Scrabble. Recently, I found Scrabble in the Facebook. Understandably, I am quickly addicted to it. Today, I played a game against an online opponent, Hilary. It is to be the best Scrabble game I ever played. After she started the game, I trailed her very closely. Then I had 2 blanks on my rack. I waited for the chance to put a bingo, which came sooner rather than latter. I hit her with RATLINGS for 113 points, my best score so far for a single word. The reason I got so much points is that the word covered two Triple Word squares. The game ended with another bingo SPUTNIK which practically forced her to forfeit. Final score Hilary 311 points - Me 522 points.

Here are the moves (H for Hilary, M for me):

H: WAFT 20pts
M: AT, FA, OF, FOAL 27pts
H: EAT, WOF, EL, WEE 36pts
M: NEAT, EEL, NE 15pts
H: FAB, WO, GOB 27pts
M: GI, WON, IN 11pts
H: DIN, DIN 16pts
M: GIN, DIN 12pts
H: JEEL, JILL 46pts
M: RATLINGS 113pts
H: DINE, CLEVER 29pts
M: NEE, VIE 15pts
H: AL, HE, AH 22pts
M: ZA, VET, ZEL 52pts
H: GOBS, WOFS 17pts
M: AS, AIM 12pts
H: WAFTS, JEELS 25pts
M: QI, UM, QUA 47pts
H: QUAT, DOT 21pts
M: QUATE, OB, BE 40pts
H: OD, ROB, TORA 19pts
M: CH, ALE, HEM, HEM 41pts
H: THEM 9pts
M: CHE, TO, OE 20pts
H: RALE 4pts
M: AR, YA 15pts
H: OY, COO 20pts
M: HEMS, SPUTNIK 102pts
H: forfeited the game


Monday, August 31, 2009


MERDEKA! MERDEKA! MERDEKA!

It has been 52 years since the day Tunku Abdul Rahman announced the independence of Malaya from the British on 31st August 1957 at Stadium Merdeka. This year's motto is '1 Malaysia, Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan', which means 'people first, performance now'. This motto is always lauded by our current Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Working Stress Free

I just finished watching Liverpool versus Bolton which ended luckily for the Liverpool win. I cannot help but see the stressful faces of the Liverpool players when they play on the pitch. It is the expectations of the fans for the long awaited title which makes the players feeling the stress more than ever before. Therefore, creativity, fluency and all the attacking prowess Liverpool are famous for lacked. As for myself, I like to work without stress. But it is hard to do when there are so many causes of stress in the working environment such as increased workload, poor work organization, inadequate staff numbers and resources, etc. But all these causes, according to Adrian Whittle, can be grouped into 3 categories:

1) How you do the job?
2) How the job treats you?
3) Issues not job related which may affect job performance

Finding solutions for these causes will be the key. All the job related issues can be discussed with the employer, and they should help you because the more effective you are, the better the organization will be. As for the third category, you just have to find the solutions yourself. Make sure that there are at least 2 solutions available so that you can choose the best.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Don't Laugh at Someone Who Try to Learn English!

I found a hilarious video of a Japanese game in a classroom setting where the sole rule is not to laugh at someone who try to learn English. The breach of the rule will lead to a painful spanking, to add to your getting out of the game. As a teacher, I always ask my pupils not to laugh at those who try to learn English, especially those who try to answer the questions that I give. However, I feel that this video is so funny that I cannot help myself to an enjoyable laugh. Enjoy!



Do Not Laugh - Japanese Speaking English by ikhwan

Monday, August 17, 2009


SMM Version 4.0

Sistem Maklumat Murid now enters its 4th version. There are so many additional information which has to be filled in by the class teachers. Among other things; the students' blood type, their ambition, names and information of their siblings, extended information of their father/mother, their examination call number, and also how they go to school. Therefore, it is advisable for the SMM teachers of each school to really befriend the class teachers, so that they will complete all the required fields needed for this version.

As the district JU, I have to actually teach all 44 SMM teachers to convert their SMM version 3.0 to this newer version. Hopefully I can do this job successfully.

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

PTK Notes for ICT

These are the notes for PTK ICT (DG41) based on the ICT paper 702/27 syllabus. The notes will be in Malay language.


Sejarah BTP

Bahagian Teknologi Pendidikan (BTP) telah diwujudkan pada 19 Jun 1972 dengan nama Bahagian Perkhidmatan Sebaran Pendidikan. Kelulusan untuk mewujudkan BTP dibuat oleh Kabinet dalam tahun 1971. Fungsi utamanya pada ketika itu ialah memberi perkhidmatan siaran radio, perkhidmatan alat pandang-dengar dan perkhidmatan siaran TV ke sekolah-sekolah. Dalam tahun 1988, nama Bahagian Perkhidmatan Sebaran Pendidikan ditukar nama kepada Bahagian Teknologi Pendidikan apabila fungsinya diperluas bagi merangkumi perkhidmatan pusat sumber sekolah. Kini, BTP mempunyai 11 sektor dan 15 BTPN.

Pada 21 April 2006, BTP telah menerima pengiktirafan MS ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management Systems-Requirements. Sistem ini dilaksanakan bagi memastikan perkhidmatan dan produk yang dihasilkan oleh BTP mempunyai standard kualiti yang dikehendaki.


Objektif BTP

- Membudayakan penggunaan ICT dalam pendidikan bagi meningkatkan kualiti pengajaran dan pembelajaran, keberkesanan pengurusan dan pentadbiran sekolah serta kompetensi guru yang berterusan.
- Memberi khidmat-bantu kepada murid dan guru dalam penggunaan teknologi pendidikan.
- Mencari alternatif-alternatif baru teknologi pendidikan yang sesuai bagi kegunaan murid dan guru.
- Membangunkan bahan teknologi pendidikan yang berkualiti bagi meningkatkan akses sumber ilmu kepada murid dan guru.
- Meningkatkan kecekapan pengurusan dan kemudahan pusat sumber bagi menyokong peningkatan kualiti pengajaran dan pembelajaran.


Visi dan Misi BTP

Visi
Wujudnya budaya penggunaan teknologi pendidikan di sekolah.

Misi
Membina dan mengekalkan budaya penggunaan teknologi pendidikan dalam kalangan guru dan murid bagi mempertingkatkan keberkesanan proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran.


Pembangunan Multimedia

Terdapat 5 fasa iaitu penakrifan – perancangan – perlaksanaan –pembangunan – penilaian.

a) Fasa Penakrifan
- Ia berlaku sebelum sesuatu projek itu diperolehi. Setelah projek itu diperolehi, laporan kertas kerja akan diteliti.
- Pada peringkat permulaan, pembangun projek perlu membuat penaksiran keperluan (need assesment) dan (audience assessment).

b) Fasa Perancangan
- Ia dilaksanakan setelah projek dipersetujui (ditandatangani).
- Proses reka bentuk antara muka akan ditentukan pada fasa perancangan.
- Penghasilan papan cerita yang mengandungi visual serta interaksi multimedia akan dibuat.
- Sesebuah papan cerita mengandungi maklumat grafik, video, audio, teks, interaksi pengguna, jenis huruf, saiz huruf dan sebagainya.
- Papan cerita akan menggambarkan peristiwa keseluruhan pada skrin tersebut.

c) Fasa Perlaksanaan
- pada peringkat ini ia mula mengagihkan tenaga kerja mengikut bidang kepakaran.
- Ketua-ketua bagi setiap kepakaran akan dilantik untuk memudahkan projek multimedia kelak.
- Permohonan sumber, data dan maklumat daripada pengguna sasaran perlu diuruskan pada peringkat ini. Kelewatan mendapatkan atau perancangan akan menjejaskan perlaksanaan multimedia.

d) Fasa Pembangunan
- pada fasa keempat ini, tenaga kerja akan membangunkan projek berdasarkan keperluan yang dipersetujui.
- Kerja pengarangan, pengaturcaraan, penyediaan grafik dilakukan.
- Setelah pengintegrasian dilakukan, pengujian akan dilakukan terhadap projek multimedia
- Ujian alfa, beta, Release Candidate 1(RC1) dan (RC2) dilakukan
- Ujian alfa dilakukan di kalangan pengguna dalaman syarikat pebangun sahaja
- Ujian beta dilakukan dengan pengguna sasaran atau kumpulan sasaran.
- Ujian RC1 dilakukan untuk menentukan projek bebas daripada pepijat (bug) sebelum ditandatangani pemberi kontrak sebagai bukti penerimaan.
- Ujian RC2 dibuat sekiranya pengguna melakukan perubahan pada projek tersebut dan setelah perubahan dilakukan ujian RC2 perlu bagi memperoleh kelulusan perubahan pengubahsuaian.
- Setelah projek selesai pengujian, penyerahan projek akan dilakukan dengan menandatangani laporan penerimaan projek antara kedua-dua pihak.
- Seterusnya pembayaran akhir akan dilakukan kepada syarikat pembangun.

e) Fasa Penilaian
- Ia adalah fasa terakhir di mana setelah projek diserahkan kepada pengguna.
- Penilaian terhadap produk akan dilakukan. Ia akan menilai keberkesanan perlaksanaan dan persekitaran pengguna.
- Jumlah saiz sampel pengguna adalah bergantung kepada saiz kumpulan sasaran
- Laporan penilaian ini amat berguna kepada syarikat pembangun untuk membantu perancangan pada masa hadapan.


Model Reka Bentuk Berarahan

Projek multimedia memerlukan reka bentuk berarahan agar menepati spesifikasi keperluan pengguna.

Model reka bentuk yang biasa digunakan ialah Model ADDIE, Model ASSURE, Model Dick & Carey dan Model Reiser & Dick.


Pembangunan Papan Cerita Bagi Projek Multimedia

Bagi sesebuah projek multimedia, papan cerita (story board) adalah sangat penting. Ia akan menentukan perjalanan sesuatu persembahan dengan lancar.


Kumpulan Pembangun Projek Multimedia

Sesebuah produksi multimedia memerlukan sebuah pasukan pembangun yang akan merealisasikan projek tersebut. Kumpulan berkenaan mempunayi kepakaran yang berbeza dan tersendiri untuk menjayakan usaha tersebut.

Pengurus projek atau penerbit
- Bertanggungjawab terhadap keseluruhan pembangunan projek multimedia dari asas pembentukan hinggalah proses pelaksanaan.
- Penyediaan belanjawan, pengurusan sumber, urusan undang-undang dan hak cipta.
- Membuat keputusan segala hal yang berkaitan dengan projek.
- Meyelesaikan segala konflik yang timbul di kalangan pekerja..

Pengurus akaun
- Mentadbir dan mengurus akaun projek
- Membantu pengurus projek menguruskan pentadbiran belanjawan dan pengurusan sumber.

Pengurus Seni
- Membuat perancangan dari segi karya visual dan asrtistik seperti grafik, audio, video, skrip dan papan cerita.
- Perlu memastikan idea yang dihasilkan adalah kreatif serta menepati tema yang telah ditetapkan.
- Memastikan keseragaman dari segi kualiti karya (kombinasi warna, reka bentuk grafik) bagi menjamin kualiti projek multimedia yang dihasilkan.

Pengarah Teknikal
- Membuat perancangan seperti pengurus projek dan pengarah seni tetapi lebih fokus kepada aspek teknikal.
- Merancang proses pengujian dan penyelenggaraan
- Mengawal selia pengaturcara, pereka bentuk pangkalan data dan penganimasi 2D dan 3D.
- Memastikan kelancaran setiap fasa perancangan pembangunan multimedia.

Pengarah Ujian
- Memastikan setiap projek multimedia memenuhi spesifikasi yang ditetapkan.
- Memastikan setiap prosedur yang diambil mampu meminimumkan kesilapan dan kegagalan projek yang dibangunkan.
- Terdapat dua ujian yang dijalankan sepanjang proses penghasilan multimedia iaitu peringkat alfa dan beta.
- Pengujian alfa akan menguji tahap dan kebolehfungsian produk tersebut
- Pengujian peringkat beta menguji keseluruhan produk multimedia termasuk isi kandungan program.
- Semasa ujian dijalankan satu skrip ujian akan disediakan setiap kejayaan dan kegagalan akan direkodkan oleh pengurus ujian.

Pereka grafik
- Menghasilkan keseluruhan keperluan visual (grafik, ilustrasi dan fotografi) dan memastikan ketepatannya dengan aspek metafor sesuatu visual
- Bekerjasama dengan pengarah seni bagi menghasilkan keperluan visual yang menepati spesifikasi projek.
- Peranan pereka visual amat penting dalam menarik minat pengguna menggunakan sesuatu aplikasi multimedia.

Penulis skrip
- Menghasilkan penulisan karya dalam bentuk penulisan.
- Bekerjasama dengan pereka bentuk berarahan untuk menghasilkan skrip yang mudah difahami.
- Skrip yang baik akan menghasilkan papan cerita yang boleh menterjemahkan ilustrasi dan lakaran yang bermutu.

Pakar Audio
- Berperanan menghasilkan muzik yang menarik, kesan bunyi, suara dan suara latar.
- Mempunyai kepakaran seperti penerbit audio, jurutera audio dan penyunting audio.
- Perlu mempunyai kemahian yang tinggi dalam mengendalikan peralatan audio dan berpengalaman luas dalam teknik rakaman seperti suara,muzik latar dan bunyi.

Pakar Video
- Mengendalikan peralatan video dan menggunakan pelbagai teknik pengambaran.
- Perlu bekerjasama dengan jurueknik cahaya dan pakar audio untuk menghasilkan audio dan cahaya yang sesuai.
- Mempunyai daya kreativiti yang tinggi untuk menarik minat pengguna.

Pelukis papan cerita
- Menterjemahkan idea atau skrip dalam bentuk visual agar ilustrasinya mudah difahami pengguna.
- Papan cerita akan menjadi sumber rujukan oleh setiap ahli dalam untuk menyelesaikan tugasan mereka seperti grafik, audio, audio, video, teks animasi dan sebagainya.

Pengaturcara
- Bertanggungjawab menulis kod aturcara dan bahasa pengarangan (scripting) yang membolehkan pengguna berinteraksi dengan aplikasi multimedia.
- Menterjemah kod aturcara dalam bentuk aplikasi multimedia.
- Bahasa pengaturcaraan adalah seperti C++, Java dan Visual Basic.

Pereka bentuk Pangkalan Data
- Beliau diperlukan bagi mereka bentuk pangkalan data yang menepati spesifikasi projek.
- Ia akan menyimpan segala maklumat supaya ia boleh dicapai apabila diperlukan

Pereka Bentuk Berarahan (Instructional Designer)
- Memastikan strategi,model, teori dan pendekatan yang sesuai digunakan bagi memenuhi keperluan projek.

Penganimasi 2D dan 3D
- Menghasilkan animasi yang mempunyai pergerakan seperti 2D dan 3D.
- Mempunyai kefahaman yang baik terhadap papan cerita untuk menghasilkan animasi yang berkualiti.

Monday, July 20, 2009


MAKSAK Games

I was out of school for about a week to prepare and play in the MAKSAK games held from 17-19th of July 2009. For a teacher, a week's absence is quite a while in terms of teaching sessions and classes. However, representing your state (or country) is also considered part of the job, and surely there has to be some leave that can be taken by teachers in this situation. Fortunately for me, there is a circular on this. It stated that the person involved can take up to 30 days of Unrecorded Leave. Thus, I can calmly train and play and as a result, we did well in the MAKSAK games held recently in Kota Bharu. Kelantan managed to get 4th placing in the chess event (the team consisted of 6 teachers from all over Kelantan). You can read all about it in my other blog.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

PPSMI is No More

Finally, the jury is out. The defendant, PPSMI, is sentenced to slow death starting from 2012 until 2014. Malay and vernacular languages will again be used to teach Mathematics and Science, both in primary and secondary schools. However, the changes won't include Form Six and Matriculation. Since its inception, PPSMI has received negative views from all over Malaysia, especially from those from the rural areas. Several reasons were given, including the ever widening gap between rural and urban students and the low percentage of teachers' proficiency in English for those teaching these two subjects. Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin said that there will be changes in teaching English. Subjects on literature, composition and grammar will be re-introduced and the number of English teachers will be sufficiently increased.

Read more about it in The Star Online and Malaysia Kini.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Anti Virus Rankings 2009

I am now using Kaspersky Internet Security 8.0.0.506, but I am anxious as what's best for my laptop. So I browse the Internet for the rankings and found several websites showing the latest rankings, but I don't know which one is better because the rankings are contradicting. There is also a wonderful website with reviews for the top 10. Here is the ranking (as given by this website):

1. Bit Defender (there is a website giving free BD license for one year)
2. Kaspersky
3. Webroot
4. G DATA
5. ESET Nod32
6. ParetoLogic
7. AVG
8. Vipre
9. F-Secure
10. Trend Micro
11. McAfee
12. CyberDefender
13. Norton
14. CA
15. Norman
16. Panda
17. AVAST!
18. PC Tools
19. F-Prot
20. ViRobot

I am perplexed as where is Avira in the ranking?

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