Hi my dearest blog,
How are you? I apologise for neglecting you all this while. As time goes by, I slowly lose my motivation to blog anymore. Nowadays, people (including me) are using social media like Facebook, Instagram, Dayre, etc to document their thoughts; it's quicker and easier to garner attention. So I think you see where I am coming from. Yes, I'm here again to pen down my thoughts because I would not like them to go public. Okay lah, not that this blog is private, but the number of visitor it gets is extremely insignificant I think. =P
My graduation is coming soon, in this coming July. Technically, I will cease to live a student life on 24th May where I will take my last exam paper. Remember what I wrote in my last post? I am stuck in the same situation: not having the motivation to study. Or should I say not even having the drive to pick up motivation? Yet, I don't have a choice but to do well in my exam this time. It's my final exam and I can't screw it up. Why? I need good grades so that I can get a good job I want. What is a good job? Good question, I don't know. =/
It appears that there are many options lying ahead of me now but at the same time, all the options come with different conditions. With more considerations I have to take into account now, on top of my own passion and interest, such as parents, boyfriend, job stability, geography, my scholarship bond, lifestyle, learning opportunity, etc, I am lost. My boyfriend and I try to lay down plan together but I am still constantly feeling uncertain. The good thing is that he has been really kind and considerate to me, putting me as his first priority time and again. What more can I ask for right?
Standing at this life junction, I am lost, yet it allows me to see how people around me are loving me and supporting me. So all I ask for right now, is an open heart for myself, to feel and take in the blessing I am getting. <3
09/05/2015
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Thanks to someone, I am having this urge to update my blog again.
Not entirely sure where to start with but I suppose I can just crap whatever I want over here. After all, this is my blog, my space, for myself. =D
Things have been going great lately, as in I am, as usual, doing a lot of stuff and learning new things day by day: from updating a website to effective communication. But at the same time, I'm losing my interest in studies slowly.With exams around the corner, I still haven't picked up the momentum to study. At the bottom of my heart, I understand and accept that I am not placing my studies as my first priority, yet living in this real world, I have to kowtow to the reality that people are going to evaluate me based on my grades. So there is no way for me to say, I don't care, I can screw up my exam if I wish to. No way, at all.
-----------
27 days to go.
I think we know where we are heading to.
I think things will go well.
=D
Not entirely sure where to start with but I suppose I can just crap whatever I want over here. After all, this is my blog, my space, for myself. =D
Things have been going great lately, as in I am, as usual, doing a lot of stuff and learning new things day by day: from updating a website to effective communication. But at the same time, I'm losing my interest in studies slowly.With exams around the corner, I still haven't picked up the momentum to study. At the bottom of my heart, I understand and accept that I am not placing my studies as my first priority, yet living in this real world, I have to kowtow to the reality that people are going to evaluate me based on my grades. So there is no way for me to say, I don't care, I can screw up my exam if I wish to. No way, at all.
-----------
27 days to go.
I think we know where we are heading to.
I think things will go well.
=D
My Little Thoughts About Malaysian Education System
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
I have never blogged about any big issue or serious matter regarding my nation but this article has strongly provoked my thought and I feel a strong urge to blog about our Malaysian Education System. *I feel good about using the word 'our' because it makes me feel that I am not actually THAT far apart from my beloved nation despite the fact that I have come to UK for 3 months.*
So, what's wrong with the education system in Malaysia? Well, perhaps 'wrong' is too strong a word for me to use. After all, I am just a first-year undergraduate who possesses no credibility to judge the system. But hey, I have gone through six-year primary school and five-year secondary school in Malaysia! My experience in the schools should allow me to make some fair comments on the system, right?
I know it is rude to say this but most of our teachers are not good. Ok, so now you're asking what is the standard of a good teacher. Possession of a wide range of knowledge and skill to impart knowledge is a MUST. Patience, approachability and willingness to accept others' (students', to be more precise) idea are also keys to be a good teacher. Most of the time, our teachers possess a great deal of knowledge but the problem is with the imparting of knowledge. My schooling years saw a drastic increase in the use of IT in classroom but to be honest, I do not see it being helpful. Ok lah, too harsh to say that it's totally unhelpful because it does help to attract students' attention. Attention to the class or to the computer/slide show? Haha. I shall let you to decide. So, taken IT away, what's left? The teacher's skill, of course! The way our teachers teach can be summed up in one word—BORING—because all they do is telling us things that have been written in the textbook (or reference book) rather than explaining them. Even if they do, they do it in a way which makes us passively absorbing the knowledge. And now you're asking what should be the right way of teaching. The key is fostering curiosity and inquiry. Once a student is curious about something, he or she will actively seek for the knowledge; this is far more effective than a teacher 'forcing' the students to learn something, isn't it?
Nonetheless, it is not sufficient just to make students curious and feel like wanting to learn. Teachers should be available and approachable when students want to ask something or clarify something taught in class. My personal experience in this issue is terrible. I remember it happened during my Form One. All my siblings hated History so much and did quite badly in the subject. To prevent myself being like them, I tried my best to be interested in the subject. Whenever I had a question, I always asked my teacher even though it might make me sound stupid in class. But one day, my mom told me that a teacher complained to her that I had asked too many questions in class. Apparently, my History teacher 'shared' about my 'bad habit' of asking question, with his colleagues and one of them told my mom about it. After that, I questioned myself: was I wrong for asking questions to make myself understand the subject better? I started paying less attention in class and diverted my questions to my tuition teacher who was always willing to answer me. Fortunately, I did not lose interest in the subject because of that teacher and his 'kind' colleague but this incident forever reminds me of how important a teacher's role is to a student: a teacher can spark, as well as causing one to loss, interest in studies.
My application to the teacher's training course makes my impression towards our education system even worse. I will never forget that the interviewer asked me whether I was sure that I want to be a teacher, after seeing my almost full As SPM result. I cannot understand where the mindset that the occupation of teacher is for mediocre people comes from. Excuse me, do you not know that a doctor, an engineer, a scientist, a lawyer, an accountant, everyone including you and me is taught by a teacher? For this very reason I believe if someone is to be a teacher he or she must be someone better, more clever, more capable than anyone else! The fact that our Ministry of Education has been all these year setting too low requirements for those who apply for teacher's training course is simply ridiculous! Not only are they not recruiting the right candidates but they are also cultivating the absurd mindset that anyone can be a teacher!
Even though I have graduated from my secondary school for almost three years, I constantly pay my school a visit when I am free. Without fail, everytime I return to my school, I will hear that new teachers have been assigned to my school but I have never heard that a good teacher has been sent to my school. I cannot help to admit that our education system is deteriorating "[b]ut the World Bank also pointed out that Malaysia already has a notion of how to arrest the decline, in the form of the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 that was launched last month." Well, I hope things will change, for the sake of my dearest nation and of my future generation.
So, what's wrong with the education system in Malaysia? Well, perhaps 'wrong' is too strong a word for me to use. After all, I am just a first-year undergraduate who possesses no credibility to judge the system. But hey, I have gone through six-year primary school and five-year secondary school in Malaysia! My experience in the schools should allow me to make some fair comments on the system, right?
I know it is rude to say this but most of our teachers are not good. Ok, so now you're asking what is the standard of a good teacher. Possession of a wide range of knowledge and skill to impart knowledge is a MUST. Patience, approachability and willingness to accept others' (students', to be more precise) idea are also keys to be a good teacher. Most of the time, our teachers possess a great deal of knowledge but the problem is with the imparting of knowledge. My schooling years saw a drastic increase in the use of IT in classroom but to be honest, I do not see it being helpful. Ok lah, too harsh to say that it's totally unhelpful because it does help to attract students' attention. Attention to the class or to the computer/slide show? Haha. I shall let you to decide. So, taken IT away, what's left? The teacher's skill, of course! The way our teachers teach can be summed up in one word—BORING—because all they do is telling us things that have been written in the textbook (or reference book) rather than explaining them. Even if they do, they do it in a way which makes us passively absorbing the knowledge. And now you're asking what should be the right way of teaching. The key is fostering curiosity and inquiry. Once a student is curious about something, he or she will actively seek for the knowledge; this is far more effective than a teacher 'forcing' the students to learn something, isn't it?
Nonetheless, it is not sufficient just to make students curious and feel like wanting to learn. Teachers should be available and approachable when students want to ask something or clarify something taught in class. My personal experience in this issue is terrible. I remember it happened during my Form One. All my siblings hated History so much and did quite badly in the subject. To prevent myself being like them, I tried my best to be interested in the subject. Whenever I had a question, I always asked my teacher even though it might make me sound stupid in class. But one day, my mom told me that a teacher complained to her that I had asked too many questions in class. Apparently, my History teacher 'shared' about my 'bad habit' of asking question, with his colleagues and one of them told my mom about it. After that, I questioned myself: was I wrong for asking questions to make myself understand the subject better? I started paying less attention in class and diverted my questions to my tuition teacher who was always willing to answer me. Fortunately, I did not lose interest in the subject because of that teacher and his 'kind' colleague but this incident forever reminds me of how important a teacher's role is to a student: a teacher can spark, as well as causing one to loss, interest in studies.
My application to the teacher's training course makes my impression towards our education system even worse. I will never forget that the interviewer asked me whether I was sure that I want to be a teacher, after seeing my almost full As SPM result. I cannot understand where the mindset that the occupation of teacher is for mediocre people comes from. Excuse me, do you not know that a doctor, an engineer, a scientist, a lawyer, an accountant, everyone including you and me is taught by a teacher? For this very reason I believe if someone is to be a teacher he or she must be someone better, more clever, more capable than anyone else! The fact that our Ministry of Education has been all these year setting too low requirements for those who apply for teacher's training course is simply ridiculous! Not only are they not recruiting the right candidates but they are also cultivating the absurd mindset that anyone can be a teacher!
Even though I have graduated from my secondary school for almost three years, I constantly pay my school a visit when I am free. Without fail, everytime I return to my school, I will hear that new teachers have been assigned to my school but I have never heard that a good teacher has been sent to my school. I cannot help to admit that our education system is deteriorating "[b]ut the World Bank also pointed out that Malaysia already has a notion of how to arrest the decline, in the form of the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 that was launched last month." Well, I hope things will change, for the sake of my dearest nation and of my future generation.
Dream
Friday, August 2, 2013
When I was still small, I used to have ambition of being a successful and well-known entrepreneur. Meeting big shots and dealing with multi-millions businesses seemed to be so fascinating to me at that time.
Later on, when I was about 14-year-old, I dreamed about reading environmental science in university and being an environmentalist. I had a strong urge to protect our Mother Nature from all sorts of undesirable pollutions.
Two years later, under the strong influence of my mom, I gave up all my previous ambitious dreams and opted for a more stable life—to become a teacher in government school. A civil servant job always comes with loads of good perks—extra allowance, medical benefit, regular working hours, more holiday—and most importantly, a teaching job in Malaysia government school is like a half-day job. It means, there will be more time for family. Family is my FIRST priority ALL THE TIME.
I have to admit that I had no genuine interest in teaching initially but as time went by, I started discovering that I enjoy teaching. I like sharing knowledge. I love knowledgeable people and really hope to help out in improving my nation's literacy level.
When I thought I'd finally found my real dream and went on pursuing it by applying for teacher's training course after my SPM, there came a detour in my journey—I received a scholarship to read law IN UK! Never in my life I had thought about studying overseas because I know the cost is so high that I will not want to burden my parents to finance it. The scholarship is a golden opportunity for me to step out from my comfort zone and venture into a brand new world independently. I know and I know that I just can't miss this chance so I accepted the offer.
Yet, my heart still belongs to education career. When most people around me told me that being a lawyer is WAY BETTER than being a teacher in terms of income and reputation, my parents are always there to support me. "Reading law in university will not stop you from entering education field. You can still teach after that. Be a law lecturer, it doesn't sound bad, right?" This is what my parents told me. Yes. They are right. There's a Chinese saying which reads, "every roads connects to Rome." It simply means whichever way can bring you to your destination. So, why bother taking a detour? ;)
____________________________________
This post is written to remind myself to keep holding on my dream.
Dreams are meant to be achieved, not to be forgotten or changed when there is obstacle. HOLD ON YOUR DREAM!
A Short One
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
This is definitely not a good time to blog—the deadly paper is coming in two-day time—but I just feel like SCREAMING OUT LOUD to give vent to my anger towards my short concentration span! I seriously have to do something about it. Ok. This is gonna be in my to-do list during my 1.5 months holiday. *DETERMINED*
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