EPL 2009/2010 Season

Finally can get rid of the football withdrawal syndrome.

This season will be extra special as I've joined a virtual league. It's an invitation from a colleague at work. 3 of us are in this league together with a few other friends of my colleague. It's going to be exciting.

I've also joined football tipping. This is my prediction for week 1's action.

My take on the policy reversion of Teaching Science and Mathematics in English

My first opinion which appeared in Malaysiakini. The title was changed to Back to the future for math and science

The Teaching of Science and Mathematics in English (Pengajaran Dan Pembelajaran Sains Dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris) or PPSMI has been a hot topic in Malaysian politics in recent months. It ended with the Government announcing that the education policy, brainchild of former Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir some 6 years ago will be abolished within the next 3 years. From 2012 onwards, it will be 'back to the future', where the teaching of science and mathematics in primary schools will revert back to Bahasa Melayu for national schools and Chinese and Tamil in vernacular schools while Bahasa Melayu will be used in secondary schools.

It is difficult to gather whether this is what the majority of Malaysians really want. PPSMI has been strongly challenged by GAPENA (Gabungan Penulis Nasional) and Chinese Educationists since its commencement. The key justifications are the status of Bahasa Melayu as the national language, the ability of students from rural areas in taking up the challenge and the preservation of ethnic and cultural identities. There are also statistics to indicate that students from rural areas have been coping poorly with science and mathematics since the implementation of PPSMI.

Based on my understanding, the statistics definitely hold a lot of truth for smaller towns and kampungs where the command of English is generally poor. Students did badly because they are not able to understand the instructions or text written in English. As we are all aware, the standard of English in Malaysia has deteriorated over time. The introduction of PPSMI was done in a haste, without considering the steps to improve the level of English or to train teachers with higher capability in the language. It is also a well known fact that the teaching profession has become very unattractive in recent years that it is difficult to attract capable teachers into the education system. In fact, many teachers from the younger generation have very poor command of English themselves. It is no surprise that they were not able to deliver.

Back to the abolishment of PPSMI. Is the Government taking the right steps? Is this merely a tactic of a Government which is under immense pressure due to its weakening support base? It is debatable. But the fact is, most parents with better education background or those who are from more urbanised areas are likely to be disappointed. It feels like a step backwards. Their children could adapt quite easily to the change in medium of instruction. In fact learning science and mathematics has become easier as there are plenty of resources, be it printed material such as books or electronic material such as the Internet where they could take advantage of.

Those who are against PPSMI often cite the ability of countries such as Japan, China, Germany and France to be advanced in science and mathematics despite not learning them in English. However they missed the point entirely. The 4 countries above have ample of scientific and mathematical resources in their own languages. In fact, they are also major contributors to the development of science and mathematics.

In my opinion, it is better for Malaysian students to learn science and mathematics in English from the practical point of view as it will meet their future needs in this globalised era. However, it is difficult to implement it in the earlier years of primary schools as most students will be faced with the challenge of learning new languages. Hence it may be desired to teach science and mathematics in mother tongue from Standard 1 to Standard 3 or even up to Standard 6 and then switch to English later on. This will allow them the time to build up good foundation in English at the same time not compromising their ability to learn science and mathematics.

It will be interesting to see whether the Government will really revert to the old policy as 2012 is still more than 2 years away and that may be after the next general elections. Whatever it is, I hope that the interest of the future generations will be taken at heart. The Government should consult the views of those who are involved in education as they will have a better feel of the issue instead of letting emotions rule the day. Let us not change education policies at whim and without proper research and planning.

Glory Glory Man United!

Despite not playing well against Arsenal today, we've clinched our 18th title, equaling Liverpool's record. Finally found a response to this dated photo (1993) below.


Well done United! We've been great this season. The only blemish is the FA Cup where we were a bit unfortunate in the semi-final.

Next up - back to back UEFA Champions League. We'll have to play a lot better than today though.

Glory glory Man united,
Glory glory Man united,
Glory glory Man united,
As the reds go marching on on on!

Sad Day in Perak

Whatever happened in Perak, I still hope that rule of law and constitution are being respected. 

However, what happened today shows that we are fast becoming a lawless state and it is sad that police were also part of it by invading the State Assembly. 

Arresting people for merely wearing black is soooo unreasonable. In a democratic country like Malaysia, don't we even have a right to express our disagreement or disapproval? 

Dear Sultan Azlan Shah, please let the people decide on who they want instead of letting all the power-crazy politicians inflict more and more pain to Perakians. Perak has been nearly 20 years of my life. I would like to see peace and stability returning. 

Perak Speaker V. Sivakumar forcibly dragged out of the Assembly by some"official" who later installed Ganesan as the "new" Speaker - which part of the law has such provisions? 

Hee Yit Fong - Victory? Wonder who will have the last laugh? The winner should be Perakians, not politicians

回忆中学时代的歌曲

我一向来都比较喜欢小调(minor key)的歌曲。但是小调歌曲经常都被用来表达悲伤的情感。对我来说歌曲的旋律比歌词重要。

Youtube真棒。几乎每一首歌都可以搜索。回忆过去的歌曲真是易如反掌。

其中一首最喜欢的歌曲是优客李林的认错。林志炫和他那高亢、優美的歌聲及流暢的真假音轉換。。。

另一首是周华健的不愿一个人。

優客李林 - 認錯


周華健 - 不願一個人

Photoshop Tutorial - Stars Effect

This tutorial is called Dancing with the Stars.

Photoshop Tutorial - How to make your photo more interesting

Yet another tutorial I've completed. This one is on how to make a photo more interesting.

The original photo

The finished product

Photoshop Tutorial - James Bond Logo

I'm really enjoying myself with these Photoshop tutorials. This one is a reproduction of the James Bond logo.

Photoshop Tutorial - Luminosity Effect

This luminosity effect is amazing. The tutorial could be found here.

Photoshop Tutorial - Comic Book Effect

As usual, during exam season I'll learn a lot of unrelated stuff, the latest is this Photoshop tutorial on transforming photos into comic book style.

Please click to view full image.

Second update...

Chicken a la carte

Forgotten people feeding on forgotten food.

6 Years since the first touch...

In a glimpse of an eye it's already 6 years since I reached out my hand to hold Johanna's on 8 April 2003. We were strolling at KLCC then. Read more at Johanna's blog on how we first met and how the relationship developed. She actually thought I am a Malay when we first met.

While we may have aged a little, our love is still as strong as the day we started. Thank you for giving me the best 6 years of my life Baby. I'm looking forward for more in the many years ahead.

I've created a Facebook Album to celebrate the 6 years.

学如逆水行舟，不进则退

游览一位朋友的部落格之后，恍然发现自己的中文水平已经倒退很多。

自从离开中学后，除了报刊之外，都很少阅读其他中文读物。

真的有点遗憾。

学如逆水行舟，不进则退。希望还有机会挽回。

Local Sentiments

What I gathered from local news and local views in Penang and Parit Buntar, Perak.

• Many are unhappy and strongly disagree with the Sultan's decision on the Perak turmoil - many are wishing for an election to show BN how big they'll lose this time around.
  
• MACC's hypocrisy - unusual disclosure of their investigations, very quick and efficient when it comes to opposition parties, impossible when it comes to BN and its bedfellows - police, judges, etc.
  
• Chinese school to suffer because they invite opposition to fund raising event - It's sad to know that there are circulars that disallow all Malaysian schools from inviting Pakatan politicians, with threats of withdrawing government funds. Government funds is treated as BN funds and political tool when it should be used impartially on the education of our future generation.
• Elizabeth Wong scandal - Sad to know that it receives so much more coverage than all the corruption cases combined. While the debate on privacy and public morality of politicians is valid to certain extent, we are not practising the same standards when it comes to corruption. Her private life has no direct impact on her role; corruption, on the other hand is directly affecting the role of a politician. In Malaysia, corruption seem to be halal. Any revelations is quickly swept under the carpet.
  
• Labu LCCT - Maybe I can understand why Tony wanted his own airport. I flew in from Melbourne in Air Asia X. The airport terminal is OK on the inside. However, once we went past the exit, we thought we've landed in Africa! No joke. There was no proper signage to direct us to public transport. Touts were all over the place, offering taxi trips to KLIA for RM45 when it is just on the other side of the airport. After asking around, we managed to get on to a bus for just RM3. The bus is ill-equipped for travellers as there is no space of baggage. The driver and attendant are not in uniforms. The ride was scary especially when the bus is negotiating corners. We were so relieved to arrive at KLIA in the end. There was no proper sign at the terminal to show that we have arrived in KLIA. We saw a few foreign tourists struggling to understand where they were, so we offered our help, while feeling embarrassed about the condition of the current LCCT and the crappy services provided from there to KLIA. MAHB is definitely ripping Air Asia off for LCCT.
  

Back in Malaysia

Johanna and I arrived back in Malaysia on Friday evening. We were greeted at Penang Airport by my excited parents and brother. We started stuffing ourselves with all the Malaysian food we've missed in the last 14 months - Penang laksa, char koay teow, or chean (fried oysters with eggs), Penang Hokkien mee, rojak (fruits version), char siew (pork buns), lor mai kai (chicken glutinous rice), or koay (yam cake), tau foo fa (sweet soy pudding), Penang chendol, etc.

After spending two nights there we came back to my hometown. We bought a walking aid for my auntie who has serious knee problems. Hopefully she'll get used to using it.

Lompat Lagi

Tun Dr M has a very funny entry in his blog on the Perak turmoil which ended with "He he he!". He he he!

1. Sandiwara di Perak masih menggelikan hati. Ada lompat keluar kandang, ada lompat masuk kandang.

2. Duli Yang Maha Mulia Sultan sudah bertitah.

3. Tetapi Menteri Besar Pakatan tidak hendak berhenti jadi MB. Pejabatnya sudah dikosongkan oleh Polis.

4. Apakah Polis akan usung MB dan campak dia keluar? Tentu tidak kerana tiada peruntukan undang-undang yang mengizinkannya.

5. Pakatan boleh adakan Kerajaan minoriti. Demokrasi mengizinkan.

6. Tetapi kerajaan minoriti lemah. Dia boleh ditumbang dengan undi tidak percaya oleh majoriti ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri, kalau Dewan bersidang. Mungkin Pakatan tak mahu ada persidangan.

7. Siapakah yang berhak mengadakan persidangan? Bolehkah puak majoriti paksa Kerajaan minoriti adakan persidangan khas untuk undi tak percaya?

8. Jika tidak dapat paksa Kerajaan minoriti mengadakan persidangan mereka boleh ambil bermacam-macam tindakan untuk merosakkan negeri Perak. Apakah yang boleh dibuat kepada kerajaan minoriti jika ia kekalkan dirinya dan terus merosakkan negeri? Keadaan seperti ini masih kelabu; tak ada peruntukan undang-undang setakat yang saya tahu.

9. Mungkin pegawai tidak akan patuh kepada kerajaan minoriti ini. Tetapi pegawai profesional perlu akur akan perintah Kerajaan yang halal.

10. Kita hanya boleh pandang dan lihat sandiwara yang sedang berterusan. Anwar akan dapat banyak pengajaran daripada sandiwara ini kerana dialah yang beria-ia sangat untuk ada lompat katak yang terbesar pada September 16. Oh! Silap, September 24. Oh! Silap lagi.

11. Amat menggelikan hati mendengar telatah Anwar berkenaan Nasarudin Hashim (ADUN Bota) masuk PKR dan keluar daripada PKR.

12. Lompat masuk (perangkap) boleh tapi lompat keluar tak sah!! He, he, he!

Frogs - The aftermath

I'm no expert in law, but that doesn't stop me from thinking and asking myself a few questions regarding the Perak turmoil.

• 3 individuals have brought down the government voted in by the people. Is this fair?
  
• Did the people voted for these individuals in 308 or they voted for the party?
• What are the conditions for granting the dissolution of the state assembly?
  
• What if PKR managed to woo a few BN ADUNs to crossover in the next few weeks or months? How many times are we going to change the government?
  

This crossover thingy is a PKR's (Anwar's) game. I don't think PAS and DAP actually support it. Now it has backfired big time. When is Anwar going to learn to be patient?

Personally I think we should have an anti-hopping law. In my opinion it is very unfair for an ADUN to switch sides without getting a fresh mandate, especially when it involves the change in government.

Further comments on our outgoing PM's quote in the Star:

Datuk Seri Abdullah has told Pakatan Rakyat to accept Barisan’s rule in Perak. “They should accept it just as we had accepted results of the general election,” he said.

How can the Perak turmoil be compared to what happened in 308? In 308, it was the rakyat who voted, what happened now is the caused by the decision of only 3 individuals.

Is that too complicated for him to grasp?

Anyway, hope the new BN government have learnt their lesson from 308. But the way they seize the government is definitely not a good start.

What we did on Chinese New Year Eve and Chinese New Year Day

We've made a spontaneous trip to the mountains on Chinese New Year Eve since we didn't have any reunion dinner to attend.

Our plan is to do canoeing in one of the National Parks in Victoria. We set off to Bright, a town in the middle of the Alpine National Park and Buffalo National Park in the morning. It took us more than 4 hours to get there. Since it was a spontaneous trip, we didn't made any arrangement for accommodation. We were told by the staff at Bright's information centre that the hotels in surrounding areas have been fully booked except for a hotel at Myrtleford, which is the other direction from where we were heading. In the end we've decided to take the risk. I managed to call up a motel from an advertisement in a tourist brochure and booked a room.

View Larger Map

Dinner Plain is located on Mt Hotham, which is part of the Alpine National Park.

On the way, we have to pass through the Mt Hotham summit. The area is full of ski resorts and chair lifts which were not in operation. There was hardly any sign of life around. I think this place is only popular in winter.


On top of Mt Hotham



We arrived at Dinner Plain around 5pm. The motel is located in a very nice and peaceful village. We were elated that our motel turned out to be very nice.


Rundells




The lobby






Dinner Plain village

We've decided to view the sunset on top of Mt Hotham based on the recommendation by a local shopkeeper. But before that we took dinner at a pizza joint there.

The sunset was really breathtaking. We could see 360 degrees of the whole mountain range, each layer with its own hue.

















The next morning, we had a very nice breakfast at the motel. It is probably the best we've had. We could really taste the difference in the quality of the food served.











After the great breakfast we headed off to Mt Buffalo. We were excited to get to Lake Catini where we planned to do canoeing. However, when we arrived there, there was no one in charge even though the canoes were there, without the paddle. I tried calling the phone numbers on the sign board but in vain. We had to give up canoeing and continued our journey to Horn, the summit of Mt Buffalo. We parked our car and started to follow the 1.5km track to the top. The view was equally breathtaking.





















It was a great trip indeed even though not the usual way of spending Chinese New Year Eve and Chinese New Year.

For more photos, please visit my Flickr.

Frogs

What say you?

It all started with Anwar's 916... Nothing much has happened thus far despite a lot dare and scare.

Perak (I consider myself a 1/2 Perakian 1/2 Penangite) has been in the news in the last few days:

• One Perak BN ADUN defected to Pakatan
• Two Perak Pakatan ADUN, who are facing corruption charges, defected to BN (maybe with the hope of saving their skins). BN may now wrest back Perak from Pakatan. But how can BN stoop so low to accept tainted frogs?
  
• The Perak BN ADUN who defected has now defected again (within days!) - since Pakatan may no longer be in power
  
• How much money is involved? According to Najib - zilch (No money is involved)
• Considering that many BN won seats have majority of less than 1,000 votes, if an election were to be called in Perak today, how much is Pakatan/BN going to win/lose?
  
• If BN were to wrest power, almost all ADUN will be from UMNO. What is MCA, Gerakan, MIC and other BN component parties' views?
  
• What if there are more frogs hopping around from either side in the next few weeks or months? Are we going to see a change in government every few weeks or months?
  
• The ball is now in Sultan Azlan Shah's (my most respected Sultan) court. I'm sure he'll make a wise decision for all Perakians
  
• There are rumours that many ADUN from Pakatan states are being lured by millions to crossover by BN - Are we going to see more frogs and more dramatic changes in the coming months?
  

It's all about money and positions. Who is standing for the rakyat when Malaysia and the whole world is facing economy crisis and job losses?