The end is nigh.

Do you know that feeling of achievement? The feeling that the end to something momentous is near? You can smell victory. It’s that feeling you get when you are 3-0 up in a Champions League final with 1 minute left. Or when you are on your last day of Ramadhan. Or in my case when you are going into your last week of what has been an enlightening Project Option. A truly humbling experience for me. I’ve learnt so much over the last 11 weeks. Prof looked at my draft this morning and it went pretty well, just a few minor niggles here and there to improve. She reminded me that I have to keep the paper very clear as there is a possibility of the abstract being sent for peer-review. Insya Allah, not keeping my hopes up. Hoping for the best from Him . As I am writing this, that Hercules OST ‘Go The Distance’ came up on my iPod. Perfect timing .

I have often dreamed
Of a far off place
Where a hero’s welcome
Would be waiting for me
Where the crowds will cheer
When they see my face
And a voice keeps saying
This is where I’m meant to be

I’ll be there someday
I can go the distance
I will find my way
If I can be strong
I know every mile
Will be worth my while
When I go the distance
I’ll be right where I belong

Down an unknown road
To embrace my fate
Though the road may wander
It will lead me to you
And a thousand years
Would be worth the wait
It may take a lifetime
But somehow I’ll see it through

And I won’t look back
I can go the distance
And I’ll stay on track
No I won’t accept defeat
It’s an uphill slope
But I won’t lose hope
Till I go the distance
And my journey is complete

But to look beyond the glory is the hardest part
For a hero’s strength is measured by his heart

Like a shooting star
I can go the distance
I will search the world
I will face its harms
I don’t care how far
I can go the distance
TillI find my hero’s welcome
Waiting in your arms…

I will search the world
I will face its harms
TillI find my hero’s welcome
Waiting in your arms…

 

“But to look beyond the glory is the hardest part
For a hero’s strength is measured by his heart”

Indeed. Wassalam.

Teaching Maths and Science in English ≠ Better English

Alhamdulillah I have finished my draft for my research project. Hopefully my supervisor will be pleased with all 36 pages of it tomorrow! Now I have a bit of spare time so I can blog.

So, the Malaysian government today announced that they will be making a U-turn on the decision to teach Maths and Science in English. It will be done in phases and hopefully by 2012 everybody at school will be back to square one; learning in BM.

I actually support this idea and congrats to Tan Sri Muhyiddin for having the balls to make this decision. Let me tell you why.

First and foremost, we must ask ourselves, what do we want to achieve in the long run? I am sure most if not all of you will unanimously and fervently say that ‘We want our kids to be better in English!!’.  Good.

Now we must understand one very important principle to this argument. Read the title of this post. Yerp, teaching maths and science in English does not equate to having a better command of the language. Those who think that it does, you have to rethink. Don’t believe me? Ask any language expert, and they will tell you that to master a language, you need to learn things like grammar, pronounciation, sentence structures, and actually speaking the language itself. I don’t see how learning Maths and Science in English will contribute to that because they are both very theoretical subjects. You have to understand the concepts in the subjects that transcend language anyway. How many times did you write a sentence when you were doing your sums? Not often I suppose.

Having said that, how DO we achieve our initial purpose? To get better in English? Ahh, here is something that we actually need to focus on. Not the Maths and Science stuff. What we actually need is a complete reshuffle of the way we teach English and the amount of time we spend learning English as a language on its own, NOT as a MEDIUM to learn other subjects. I can assure you based on my own experiences that mastering English comes from lots of reading and learning the language itself and not through learning it in Maths or Science or History or even Geography for that matter!

Once you’ve mastered the language, everything else will take care of themselves. Trust me, we will be better off devising new ways to encourage students to speak English and make learning English more fun rather than bog them down with difficult terms and concepts in Maths and Science that they struggle to even comprehend in BM. Before you run, you must learn to walk. We learnt Science and Maths in Malay and we did fine.

So, go and learn the language first. Focus on mastering your English, then everything else will sort out itself. Forget Maths and Science, even Sociology or Theoretical Physics in English won’t scare you by then.

All this while, we have actually been trying to solve the problem from the wrong end.

*The views expressed on this blog are entirely the author’s and in no way reflective of public opinion

Let’s all be dentists!

Salam,

I read this on the Malaysian Insider. There is also a video on Malaysiakini which can be seen here.

I have clearly chosen the wrong profession!

p/s: Congrats to Federer yesterday but what an effort by Roddick. Poor guy, hope he’ll be back.

Front view of Khir Toyo's 'Bali-themed palace'

SHAH ALAM, July 6 — Selangor’s opposition leader is under the spotlight again, this time for allegedly building a palatial mansion which dwarfs the infamous Istana Zakaria built by the late Port Klang assemblyman Datuk Zakaria Md Deros, but in an immediate reaction Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo denied he had spent more than RM20 million on the house.

DAP’s Ng See Lim today revealed documents which allegedly confirms allegations which first surfaced over the Internet months ago that Dr Khir owns the mansion on Jalan Suasa 7/1L in Shah Alam.

The Sekinchan assemblyman said the resort-like home of the former mentri besar had been built on two plots of land measuring over 50,000 sq ft or 1.17acres.

In comparison, Istana Zakaria which brought about the political downfall of the infamous Port Klang assemblyman had 16 bedrooms, 21 bathrooms and built on 43,000 sq feet of land in Kampung Idaman, Klang.

Ng, who produced documents from the State Land Department, said Dr Khir had purchased one lot measuring of 31,794 sq feet for RM2.9 million while another lot measuring 20,427 sq feet was purchased for RM900,000.

He further alleges that the mansion, which sits behind high walls, was built at a further cost of RM20 million.

Speaking to reporters later, Dr Khir said he had bought the home for only RM3.5 million with a loan from HSBC.

“I have nothing to hide. Everything is above board,” he said.

Earlier, Ng had taken reporters to visit the house and alleged that Dr Khir could not have been able to afford the house on his income as a mentri besar.

“The house was built according to Balinese architecture with furniture from Bail, and it also has a pool.”

“I would like Dr Mohd Khir, who was a dentist before becoming mentri besar for eight years, to explain how he accumulated so much wealth that he could afford to build the house that cost at least RM24 million.”

Based on the public income declaration of Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, Ng worked out that Dr Khir’s income to be no more than RM48,000 a month while he was mentri besar.

This would come to RM576,000 a year or RM4.6 million while he was mentri besar between August 2000 and March 2008. As mentri besar, Dr Khir would have been barred from engaging in business.

Ng said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) must act and investigate how Dr Khir could afford the house.

He said the MACC could obtain all the necessary documents from the land office and did not have to interview him or wait for a report to be lodged.

According to documents given to the press, Dr Khir and his wife Datin Seri Zahrah Kechik had obtained the land from Ditamas Sdn Bhd in 2007 while construction of the house was completed some time this year.

Photographs of the property which show a swimming pool and several buildings first surfaced on the antikhirtoyo.blogspot website on March 20, just before the Umno elections.

Asked about it then, Dr Khir said it was the work of his enemies in Umno.

Dr Khir, who had been a frontrunner in the contest for the Umno Youth chief’s post, eventually lost the election to Khairy Jamaluddin.