Jijik betul aku tengok dia tersengih.

Jadi beberapa hari lepas aku diajak ke majlis makan-makan. Lepas makan aku pun melepak borak dengan mereka yang ada disitu.

Macam-macam benda borak. Dari hal Melayu pemalas, cina dah beli semua tanah Melayu sampailah ke cerita di jalan Gua Musang ada kereta kura berhantu. Waktu siang tersadai tepi jalan dekat dengan terowong tapi sampai malam kereta tu boleh berjalan tanpa pemandu.

Dalam banyak-banyak cerita, satu hal tarik perhatian aku. Ada seorang mamat ni cerita pasal dia ada kawan polis. Lepas tu ada orang repot pasal dia kat polis. Dia pun suruh member dia ambik fail laporan itu dan diletakkan ke bahagian paling bawah sekali.

Dengan bangga dia cakap, kalau yang buat laporan tu tak tanya polis pasal kes, sampai ke sudah fail tu akan ada kat bawah.

Seriau aku. Jijik betul aku tengok dia tersengih waktu tu. 

Pui. 

An open reply to Miss Nadilla Jamil, from a secondary school English teacher.

First and foremost, I would like to express my utmost gratitude to Miss Nadilla Jamil for having the passion and taking much interest on the issue of English education in Malaysia. It is kind of rare nowadays to find people writing or reading about English and education. Well, at least not as many as those who prefer to watch Korean Drama, Maharaja Lawak or read love novels and not care about what is going on in our education.

Let me start by saying I passionately believe a person like Miss Nadilla Jamil will make a good parent. The kind we need to have more in our society nowadays. Furthermore, I believe a parent like Miss Nadilla will take much interest about her child’s education to come and discuss with the teacher to provide more guidance for her child at home. Yes, home, where learning begins, definitely not school. Most of the time, as a society, I find out that we have always misinterpreted the function of schools or teachers. No, education does not start in school and it must not only start with teachers. It is such a shame and a huge waste if a child’s education only starts in school.

Now, being a secondary school teacher I am entitled to reply to her open letter. Let me provide you with some background of my teaching career. I am currently teaching in a secondary school, a Sekolah Agama Bantuan Kerajaan (SABK) which falls under state and federal administration but I am hired by the Ministry of Education. Having a B. Ed. TESL degree, my first option is English and I am teaching a form one, two form three and two form five classes in my school. Being students of SABK, they have fewer English periods where the form one and form three only get three periods per week while the form five as much as only four periods.

To discuss on a few matters which need to be straighten out

Thanks to the open letter by Miss Nadilla Jamil, at least there are a few perspectives being conveyed. As I do not know what is the background of Miss Nadilla, I tend to see the open letter as coming from a concerned person in the society but observing the linguistic items being used in the letter, she must have had some background in English education or linguistic or she must be an avid reader in the field. Although I am thankful for her honest open letter, there are a few things I need to point out which I tend to disagree with (with reasons of course). I will organise my points and ideas to be discussed based on the inputs from Miss Nadilla’s open letter in five different points. And yes, I save the best for the last so hold on tight until the end of it okay?

Point Number 1: You cannot teach English by using other language.

Frankly speaking, I thought so too. It is definitely not naive to think in such a way because English is a language and a tool to be used, to be mastered. Yet, is there any better language which we can use to learn English? Yes, the native language or the mother-tongue.

When I started teaching in my current school I felt like a Mr. Peter Brown, an Englishman, using full English in my lesson, from A to Z, from giving instructions to them as a group to explaining to individual students. Then I asked them, do you understand? All of them nodded and answered a long satisfying yeeeessssss! Throughout and at the end of the lesson I always give more practice questions. As expected, some failed to answer correctly but to my astonishment, most of them submitted the same answers (They copied one another). They were not bothered to try. Why? Simply because they do not understand the questions, not even the instructions. In an ideal classroom situation, students who do not understand will raise their hand and ask questions. Well dear, the reality is no student is going to put their reputation at risk by raising hand and asking questions. They prefer to keep quiet and say yes every time you ask them if they understood. This is the common situation in the classroom, a situation which we have to deal with.

Miss Nadilla Jamil, you said by all means take all the time I need to adjust my lexical choices, paraphrase, slow down my speech and use paralinguistic elements in my classroom to accommodate my student’s linguistic level. Theoretically speaking, you are right, I would love it if I can take as much time I need for the sake of my students. Yet realistically, I just do not have the time. With only four or five periods per week and a lot of things to cover from vocabulary, grammar drills, essay formats, literature contents and others; added up with the instable condition of our timetables when at times the teacher may not be able to enter the classroom because of external courses and programmes, at the other times there are school events during your period, minus the examination weeks, school holidays and so on. Now, in an ideal classroom situation all the students will be motivated, willing and eager to learn. You as the teacher only need to provide them the content and facilitate them. Well dear, in reality before you can even begin teaching you need to take some time to arrange your students, discipline, motivate and grab their attention. From having a 35 or 40 minutes per period, it is considered lucky if you only need at most five minutes for classroom management! So, as I said earlier, time my dear, is something we teachers do not have in the classroom.

To add an informative perspective to my argument that we can actually teach English using the student’s mother tongue, in the field of linguistic there is the theory of Universal Grammar which is said to be proposed by Noam Chomsky, a well-known philosopher and linguist of our modern era. It is about us, humans having a commonly built linguistic context with similar language properties being shared by all human languages. If we observe carefully, the structure of sentences for different languages are almost the same. There are nouns, verbs, adjectives, subjects, predicates and other linguistic items. Most language has these functions only to be used in different arrangements and obviously with different vocabulary and pronunciation to separate the languages. So, by explaining and comparing English sentence structures to the mother tongue (in my case, Malay language), it somehow helped students to understand better.

In addition, a personal experiment which I carried out after getting tired from the tireless tries to explain ‘how to write and arrange the structure of an article essay in the Directed Writing Section in Paper 2 SPM’; I tried using Malay to explain. The next thing I know, most of my students managed to write an article essay. Even those who do not understand the question, they were able to at least arrange the structure of the essay and the points given according to what I taught them; using paragraphs, sequence connectors and the main points. If you read their essay (the weak ones), it is incomprehensible but at least they submitted an essay! Before this they used to submit empty papers so this is kind of a huge achievement for them (and for me, yeay!) considering that they are going to face the big SPM this year. Only after getting them to submit not an empty paper, then only I can go with my next agenda, for them to write an intelligible essay.

Moreover, today on the market, there is also this book ‘English itu Mudah’ initiated by Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) teachers. I strongly encourage those who are comfortable learning in Malay language and who want to understand grammar items better to buy this book as it provides explanations and examples in Malay. If you go through the book obediently, you will be able to understand grammatical properties, relate them to the structures in Malay language and thus help you to write better English sentence. We all know that writing is ‘the thing’ being tested in our education system, so yeah. Speaking can come after your writing because it is the way of our education and as for me; there is no harm in taking a step at a time, as long as it keeps the students ‘in’ with what you are teaching. After all, it is as said by Stephen Krashen in his famous ‘i + 1’ input hypothesis. Give students something which is slightly above their level, to keep their confidence and motivation up to help them progress through the learning.

Point Number 2: In Malaysia, English is about SPM, the big examination

Yeah, I did say SPM and described it as ‘the big examination’ because that is actually the summary of our education. After a long 11 years of studying, SPM is the answer. Well, personally I do not believe it is right to summarise education as SPM. Yet hey! Let us admit our current reality. Everyone wants to know about SPM. The universities look at SPM and even scholarships are given out based on SPM results. Why? It is because contrary to your passionate believe that education does not go on in the committee rooms of our legislative buildings, our education actually starts there, in the meeting room. We teachers, we are merely the officers who carried out orders to achieve the targets set by people who met in the meeting room. They believe SPM is the target and by SPM, it is always about reading, writing and grammar!

You honestly said, when our (read: the teacher’s) discretion is removed, our education will stop working. By saying this, you allow me an opportunity to honestly agree to what you said. However, I will not say it has stop working. It is still working but the question is, is it still working correctly the way we want it to? The recent internationally-recognised PISA and TIMSS results, the decline in our student’s discipline, the lack of interest among students when we talk about school and classroom and also the lack of interest from parents to participate in school activities thus empowering the function of school in their children’s belief system are among a few examples which have honestly provided answers to that honest question. Parents, admit it, more of your kind come to school to receive that RM100 Bantuan Persekolahan 1Malaysia than the number of those who are there during school PIBG meetings. To those who came, who donated, who voiced out opinions and ideas and supported school’s activities; we teachers would like to convey our deepest and sincerest appreciation to you. You are the nation-builder, by taking care of your child’s education and not make us, teachers, feel like everything is burdened on our shoulders when they are actually your sons and daughters. Again, thank you.

Dear Miss Nadilla Jamil. Yes, like you I believe education is much more than written examination. Yet, being realistic, I must say I tend to focus on their performance in written exam. This is due to the fact that it is the written exam that matters in our system. Well, at least I passionately believe this is one of the biggest issues for teachers. Especially for teachers whose students are sitting for big examination like me. Trust me, you do not want your students to slack out in the written examination because if they do, you are the one who will be on the hot seat of test and trial. The education officers are going to come to your school that ‘did not make the grade like every other school’ to ‘find out what’s wrong’; and the principal and administrative school officers are going to come looking for you to get answers. No, they do not want explanation or listen to you rambling about ‘the right way’ to teach, they just want answers.

And then all the smirks and the head shakes you will get from fellow teachers for putting your school and them in that position to be scrutinised and examined like dissected frogs in a biology laboratory. Open to the eye of the public, to be mentioned in every district and state meetings as ‘the bad example to be followed’ in front of fellow teachers from other schools. You will not want that to happen when you receive calls or visits from concern parents (at least IF you are lucky to have parents who are concerned enough to discuss about their child with you) who will ask questions as to why is this (bad result) happening to my child? Your name, your reputation and your future are at stake. Yet do not get me wrong, it is not about me, the teacher. It is about the students themselves. It is because at the end of the day, you will be jeopardising the future of your very own students when they fail to make the grade like their every other friends. As a teacher, that will be the last thing you would want in your entire career.

Point Number 3: English is fun and grammar is just a part of English

So we have arrived to the next point. You said English is fun. Yeah, everyone thinks so but is it fun? Well, it should be fun! I should bring my games, movies, do act out and role plays for students to enjoy. Yet again, at the end of the day, everything is about the ability of students to answer the examination papers and by that let me emphasis on it again, the ability to write an essay in the examination. Therefore, no! you (read: Miss Fadilla) are not right when you said as a teacher I am not supposed to be grammar Nazis. Yes, I do not want to be a Nazi but I just have to. I need to be grammar Nazi because in the exam, there will be 20 out of 35 marks for language in the Directed Writing section. Or the fact that the marking scheme for Continuous Writing ask you to identify if the essay has multiple errors, less clarity or count the number of error free paragraphs?

Can you see? By language they mean, how many errors? So, yeah grammar Nazi, that is me. *Smirk* Grammar is not only there to make sense of semantics. In our education system, grammar is everything! I tried my best not to correct my students’ grammar when we do exercises or at least I used the approach where I corrected particular grammar mistakes which were committed repeatedly for them to realise the mistakes and not do it again. However, now, I can proudly say this, that if it is not because of my teachers who drilled my grammar and punished my mistakes (while allowing rooms for fun English of course!), I can never acquire the language in the way I have acquired it now. It is far from perfect, yes, but at least for Malaysians, if we are good in grammar, we ARE good in grammar (Say the ‘are’ Harith Iskander’s style). Sometimes, even better than those using the language as their native tongue, you know? So, thank you Grammar Nazis!

Point Number 4: The power of home and parents

Well, well, well, this is one of the points you mentioned which I cannot disagree with. In order to learn English, we need to provide a linguistic environment for our students. A very good point indeed, Miss Nadilla. Therefore, we need to always speak in English and encourage the students to do the same in order to provide the learning environment for them. Then, you asked a question, “If not you, as English teachers play the part, then who?” Now, to answer this blunt and direct question, allow me to share with you the story about SK Ulu Lubai in Limbang, Sarawak.

Once upon a time, there was a small normal primary school inhabited by normal teachers and normal students who I believe would like to care more about playing happily rather than studying for examination. Yet, this particular school has achieved international awards and national recognition for being successful in producing successful students. A fellow teacher of mine who used to teach in Sarawak once told me, “We went to a sport tournament. I was shocked to find out that the students from that school use English among them during practice session.” Well, I was shocked too. It is no wonder the school received Commonwealth award, was enlisted to receive a UNESCO award and received cooperation with international education organisations from the United Kingdom and Singapore.

The question is how they managed to do it? Put aside the fact that it is a small school where it is easier to manage and obviously with less administrative burdens for teachers as compared to other bigger schools. (Administrative burdens and teaching? *Sigh*) When I read about them, I found out that the key factor was the cooperation between the local community (read: the parents) and the school. The teachers ask the students to use English all the time, even at home. When the students do not use English at home, the parents will tell the teachers and they will work out something for the students. This kind of cooperation is magical! It is what we really need. Like what I mentioned earlier, ‘Yes, home, where learning begins, definitely not school.’

I do not mean to generalise parents but let us all ask these question to ourselves, how many of us (read: parents) care to check if their child has done the homework given, or how is their child behaving at school, or what extra input does their child needs to improve academically? This is the crux of this issue, a fact we have to accept, that learning starts at home. Most of us teachers, we are more than willing to help, assist and facilitate parents, provide feedbacks and extra guidance needed at school but education has and must start from home. If only I can make a fatwa about this! At least, that is what I passionately believe in. Ever wondered why many children of teachers tend to be successful academically? Maybe, just maybe because as teachers, we tend to care more about academic achievement and we make sure our children care too. I repeat, I do not mean to generalise parents, I am simply asking us to rethink about the need to cooperate between parents and teachers for the sake of their children. To stop pointing fingers and obviously it has to start with the parents. Is it easier for a parent to step aside one day to come to school and meet the teachers or for a teacher to go to every student’s house to meet with the parents? I myself am teaching a total amount of 140 students more or less in three different subjects! So, parents, please consider to ask yourselves that question too.

Point Number 5: One education solution for all in our 1Malaysia? 

We have come to the last point, finally. Miss Nadilla gave a simplistic comparison in her letter. I would like to point out that IF and IF ONLY teaching English to unmotivated learners can be equalled to giving vaccine shots to small babies; it would be a lot easier for all of us then! The thing about teaching English is there is one-for-all remedy or vaccine which we can use to provide the solution for every learner. I believe this is also the case for any other subjects in education. Learners are different to one another, different in different situations, in different settings or environment with different motivations and targets. Hence my point is learners are always different. They bring different problems, ideas, motivations and targets to school with them and therefore all of us should stop trying to find a one-size-fits-all solution. It does not work that way, not at all. By all of us I am pointing at myself, at the education officers, at those in the ministry, at parents and at passionate believers like Miss Nadilla Jamil. We are all concern but there is no way we can provide one vaccine shot for everyone. Decidedly, we can force our vaccine shot on them but forcing brings different meaning than providing.

Since the World Cup is ‘the thing’ nowadays. I would like to imagine us, education stakeholders, the teachers, parents, administrators, ministry and the community as a football team. Everyone in the team needs to do what is expected of them. The goalkeeper needs to work on his reflective, positioning and handling skills; the midfielder needs to focus on improving long shots, passes, volleys and on the field vision while the striker needs to be able to dribble creatively and shoot for goals. If everyone in the team plays their part accordingly then our football team may have achieved what was promised to us earlier, World Cup qualification by 2014. *Smirk again*

The thing about our education team is, what is the vision? What are we trying to achieve? What kind of students we want to produce? Let’s take English. Do we want our students to be able to speak or to write fluently? Are we following the British style or the American style or maybe the Indian style of English? Or should we focus on building our Malaysian style of English? If that is so, what is this Malaysian style of English we are talking about? Is it about writing grammatically flawless essays or about being able to convey ideas fluently in English or is it about creating generations of Malaysian who are at least able to read and understand English materials?
 

All of these questions are necessary to be answered before we start to point fingers at each other. And please do not ONLY look at us teachers when it comes to education issues. We do what we have to do. We do what is expected of us and that is to teach the students to be able to answer examinations. It may not be the right thing but that is what everybody wants. We are only strikers in football team and our job is to score goals. It is also to be noted that in order for us to score goals, we need successful through balls from our midfielders. The defenders need to tackle and feed the balls to midfielders while the goalkeeper needs to keep the goal save from opponent scoring. Yet, most importantly, all of us wait for decisions from the manager who needs to have a vision first before being able to decide on the tactics effectively. Last but not least, it is already confirmed that without a suitable manager, even a highly reputable team with years of success like Manchester United has failed to perform.

Thank you again, Miss Nasilla Jamil and fellow citizens alike!

Before I end, I would like to once again thank Miss Nadilla Jamil for her kind intention and passionate believe. Please continue to do what you are doing. I would rather speak, discuss and argue about education than talk about which celebrity has the biggest wedding ring or compare to see if our car is bigger than the neighbour’s. For, the fate of our nation’s future, solely lies in our attitude towards education, if we care enough to see.

Tugas cikgu bukan lagi mengajar.

Tugas cikgu bukan lagi mengajar? Biar betul?!

1. Sekarang ni tugas utama nombor wahid seorang guru bukan lagi mengajar. Tapi tugas nombor satu cikgu adalah kemaskini dan susun fail cantik-cantik untuk tatapan pegawai atasan.

2. Jadi ini bermakna klien nombor satu seorang cikgu juga bukan lagi pelajar, tetapi klien utama sekarang ni adalah pegawai-pegawai atasan. Pegawai-pegawai inilah yang perlu dipuashatikan agar kemaslahatan cikgu-cikgu kekal terjaga (Rekomen naik pangkat dsbnya, orang atas kena jaga beb. Hehehe.)

3. Sebab kalau seorang cikgu nak lorat-lorat beri tumpuan kepada pengajaran dan pembelajaran (P&P) banyak masa dia akan terbuang. Kita ambil contoh seorang cikgu Bahasa Inggeris yang rata-rata mengajar 25 - 30 waktu seminggu dalam 3,4 atau 5 kelas.

4. 3,4 atau 5 kelas ini jika semuanya kelas sama tingkatan kira okay la lagi. Sebab jika semua tingkatan 2, maka spesifikasi kurrikulum yang digunakan adalah sama untuk tingkatan 2. Sasaran P&P juga hampir sama, cuma level pelajar berbeza-beza. Tapi bayangkan cikgu yang mengajar 3,4 atau 5 kelas berbeza contohnya campur-campur antara tingkatan 1, 2 dan peralihan? Spesifikasi kurrikulum mereka pun berbeza-beza, sasaran P&P juga berbeza. Pelajar peralihan pasti berbeza cara mengajar mereka berbanding pelajar tingkatan 2. Bukan kah lebih banyak masa untuk merancang P&P diperlukan?

Jadi guru kini tidak seindah dulu.

5. Saya baca ungkapan ini di Newsletter KPPK kata-kata daripada Presidennya Saudara Hashim Adnan. Memang benar. Ibu bapa saya juga kedua-dua mereka guru. Mereka kata biarpun dulu gaji cikgu sebulan dua ratus ringgit, pergi sekolah sekadar naik motor tapi kita 'enjoy' mengajar. Jumpa ibubapa berbincang tentang prestasi anak-anak (Siap ibubapa buatkan minum petang, mana tak best kan? Hehehe.) Ibubapa dulu pun banyak percayakan guru sampai kata "Cikgu pukullah anak saya macam anak cikgu sendiri. Asalkan tak mati tak cacat sudahlah." Kerana mereka tahu, cikgu ni kerjanya bukanlah nak marah atau pukul budak tanpa sebarang sebab. Ibubapa dulu juga ramai yang berminat nak tengok anak-anak mereka rajin belajar. Tetapi kini? Sikit-sikit mau hantam cikgu adalaaa.

6. Perlu diingatkan bahawa memang ada cikgu yang sambil lewa dalam mengajar tetapi sebenarnya ramai yang betul-betul ambil peduli dan mahu membantu. Begitu juga ibu bapa, memang ramai yang mahu membantu guru-guru mendidik anak mereka cuma baru-baru ini nampaknya semakin hambar. Macamana nak tau hambar ke tidak? Kiralah berapa ramai ibu bapa yang datang untuk perjumpaan PIBG bersama pihak sekolah berbincang berkenaan anak mereka sendiri, bukannya anak orang lain. Lepas tu bandingkan dengan jumlah berapa ramai ibubapa yang datang ke sekolah untuk ambil bantuan RM100 yang kerajaan bagi. Siap beratur pun tak apa I cakap you. Hehehe.

7. Kini, tugas cikgu, selain daripada mengajar, perlu siapkan fail serta dokumen, buat kertaskerja untuk program, urus aktiviti sukan, urus persatuan, kuiz, minggu bahasa inggeris, minggu bahasa melayu, jadi emcee perhimpunan, hias dewan untuk majlis terutama lagi bila ada 'orang besar dari luar' yang nak datang, jadi cikgu bertugas, cikgu disiplin, cikgu bilik fail, cikgu spbt dan bermacam-macam  lagi. Tak masuk lagi dengan kelas tambahan samada sukarela atau yang 'dipaksa' oleh pentadbiran. Ini semua tugas guru. Juga memberikan kerja rumah yang bersesuaian, semak kerja rumah suruh pelajar buat pembetulan dan semak semula pembetulan. Apa lagi kerja guru? Anda hitunglah sendiri.

8. Selain pengajaran, kita tak masuk lagi tentang pengurusan kelas. Bagaimana nak ajar jika ada pelajar degil? Menguruskan disiplin pelajar. Lebih-lebih lagi pelajar yang naik kepala sebab ada 'back-up' ibu bapa yang mana anak mereka tak pernah salah. Ditambah pula dengan peraturan-peratuan disiplin seperti dalam gambar dibawah. Suruh murid berdiri lama pun tak boleh. Apaaacriitttaaa?

9. Kemudian cikgu-cikgu ditekan pula menyiapkan fail-fail untuk ditatap oleh pegawai-pegawai atasan. Bermacam-macam jenis fail. Nak tahu tanyalah seorang cikgu terutama jika dia ditugas untuk menguruskan bilik fail. Haa, jangan terkejut jika sekolah ada bilik fail yang raknya bukan main besar dah macam perpustakaan siap kena naik ladder lagi. Ini mesti sekolah kluster. :p

Gambar hiasan tetapi real dan true: bilik fail yang penuh dengan fail PBS.

10. Akhirnya, apa kesan yang kita terima? Cikgu tak lagi mampu untuk meletakkan sepenuh fokus kepada P&P. Masa rehat dibilik guru yang jika dulu boleh diguna untuk berbincang sesama warga pendidik tentang kaedah P&P masing-masing terpaksa digunakan untuk menyiapkan kertaskerja program Minggu Bahasa Inggeris.

11. Masa petang untuk cikgu-cikgu pula digunakan untuk merancang kegiatan kokurikulum termasuklah persatuan, kelab sukan dan badan beruniform. Masa malam cikgu pula selain daripada P&P, juga terpaksa digunakan untuk 'key-in' data ke dalam sistem seperti yang dimahukan oleh pegawai atasan.

12. Bukankah lebih baik jika beban-beban kerja golongan guru ini dikurangkan terutamanya yang melibatkan tugas pengkeranian. Bukankah lebih baik jika para guru boleh menggunakan masa mereka sepenuhnya untuk klien utama mereka iaitu anak murid. Bukankah lebih baik jika ada pegawai khas bidang kokurikulum untuk merencana aktiviti sukan, persatuan dan badan beruniform dengan lebih tersusun? Macamana seorang cikgu dapat memberikan tumpuan sepenuhnya kepada P&P anak murid mereka jika perlu mengajar 2 atau 3 subjek untuk 2 atau 3 kelas berbeza disamping menguruskan sebuah kelab sukan dan persatuan disamping tugas-tugas pengkeranian lain dan perlu juga fikirkan tentang macamana nak hias dewan atau nak buat persembahan yang boleh buat ' tetamu orang besar' tersenyum gembira sewaktu hari anugerah. Belum masuk hari kantin lagi? Hari sukan lagi? Hari ambil buku prestasi lagi? Hari bagi bantuan persekolahan RM100 lagi?

Pentingnya para guru dalam sesebuah masyarakat.

13. Ramai orang kata pekerjaan paling mulia adalah guru. Bagi saya, dalam sesebuah negara, pekerjaan paling 'penting' adalah guru. Mulia tu kita tolak belakang dulu, kita cakap soal pentingnya para guru ini. Justeru, suara golongan guru perlu didengari dan dinilai pendapat mereka kerana merekalah 'frontliner' dalam sistem pendidikan kita. Bukan ibubapa, bukan pegawai ppd, bukan pegawai kpm, bukan juga pak-pak Menteri sebaliknya para gurulah barisan paling hadapan yang melaksanakan sistem pendidikan kita. Maka wajarlah suara dan pendapat mereka yang paling utama diambilkira untuk menambah baik pendidikan kita sendiri.

14. Seperti jika pergi berperang, yang paling sesuai bagi cadangan adalah askar-askar yang pergi membuat reconnaissance atau askar yang berdepan dengan musuh di medan perang kerana merekalah yang paling faham akan situasi di lapangan. Jika pendapat mereka ini tidak diambil kira oleh pegawai atasan mereka, maka tak mustahil mereka akan terkorban diserang bertalu-talu.

15. Pernah saya sertai satu kem motivasi. Saya antara sedikit pelajar B. Ed. TESL yang ada dalam kem itu. Yang lain ramai daripada mereka menuntut dalam bidang kedoktoran, farmasi, undang-undang, ekonomi dan bermacam lagi. Sewaktu memberi taklimat berkenaan 'field of study' kepada adik-adik peserta kem motivasi, ramai yang bercerita tentang hebatnya dan pentingnya kursus yang diambil. Bahawa seusai pengajian mereka akan jadi lawyer, doktor, pharmacist, economist, strategist, dan gist-gist lain yang sememangnya bergaji besar dan berprestij tinggi. Kemudian sampai giliran saya, saya berkongsi kata-kata ini, "A doctor heals the patient, a lawyer protects the innocent, a pharmacist gives you the right medication BUT a teacher teaches to educate and create more professional individuals like these guys for the benefit of the people."

16. Begitulah tanggungjawab dan peranan seorang guru. Pendapat saya, seorang guru bukannya mahu dimuliakan dengan sanjungan dan pujian apatah lagi tatkala 16 Mei bilamana pujian oleh politikus-politikus negara untuk kaum guru terpampang didada-dada akhbar. Seorang guru juga bukannya mahu kerja mudah apabila merungut tentang beban kerja yang terlampau. Apa yang guru mahu adalah beri ruang dan kepercayaan untuk para guru mengajar kerana itulah kebolehan professional mereka serta jangan dibebankan dengan kerja-kerja lain yang akan menjejaskan keberkesanan pekerjaan mereka.

17. Cuba anda bayangkan, disamping membuat 'check-up' dan membuat keputusan ubat apa untuk diberikan kepada pesakit, seorang doktor juga disuruh menjaga sendiri kebersihan dan keceriaan biliknya. Atau diarah membuat kertaskerja dan menguruskan program kesihatan dua bulan sekali. Atau doktor itu perlu menguruskan bilik farmasi dan bilik peralatan hospital. Atau merancang aktiviti-aktiviti kokurikulum untuk kakitangan hospital seminggu sekali. Tak ke kelam-kabut jadinya? Tidakkah kita belajar dalam subjek TITAS diperingkat universiti dan kolej bahawa pengkhususan pekerjaan adalah salah satu ciri utama yang dipelajari oleh tamadun awal dunia seperti mesopotamia untuk menjadi besar dan berjaya.

18. Pendidikan Malaysia menjadi cacamarba apabila semakin banyak tangan-tangan yang campurtangan dalam memperkenalkan polisi itu, polisi ini tanpa mengambil kira pendapat para guru. Tak perlu saya bincangkan mengenai PPSMI yang sudah pun terkubur setelah menelan belanja berjuta-juta. Apatah lagi nak saya katakan tentang SPPBS yang sedang bermaharajalela sekarang ini? Dimana tempatnya suara para guru dalam isu-isu sebegini? 

19. Gurulah yang terpaksa dan dipaksa menjalankan pengurusan sistem sebegini yang lebih banyak mendatangkan beban akibat perancangan dan pengurusan tidak teratur. Kenapa perlu buang masa para guru dengan perkara sebegini sedangkan merekalah pejuang pendidikan kita dan 'the real battle is in the classroom!!'. Pejuang yang dipaksa membuat perkara lain akan kehilangan tenaga dan menjadi lemah untuk berdepan dengan peperangan sebenar. 

20. Akhir kata, majulah pendidikan untuk Malaysia dulu, kini dan selamanya. Kerana jika bukan pendidikan yang kita utamakan, apa lagi yang ada dalam masa depan generasi muda Malaysia?

Interpretasi Graf Kehidupan

Hidup boleh dibayangkan dengan satu garisan dan graf gelombang turun naik. Sepanjang aku berjalan melalui hidup aku, aku perasan nasib aku umpama graf itu. Sekejap aku diatas, sekejap aku dibawah. Macam cuaca juga. Ada hari panas, esoknya hujan kemudian panas semula.

Bagi aku semua ni kita tak boleh elak. Graf hidup aku dah ditentukan oleh Tuhan. Sebanyak mana atas nya, sebanyak mana bawahnya, sebanyak mana hari panas dan sebanyak mana hari hujan. Jadi aku percaya tak perlu takutkan masa depan. Lebih baik sebanyak masa yang aku masih ada, sepanjang graf yang masih terukir, aku habiskan masa memberi kasih sayang kepada mereka yang aku sayangi. Nenek, Mama, Baba, adik-beradik, saudara maraku dan mereka yang aku sayangi.

Kerana satu hari nanti graf itu akan menemui penghabisan,begitu juga hayat aku. Jadi buat apa mau peningkan kepala dengan dunia. Kalau kita dibawah, itu tempoh masa yang dipinjamkan Tuhan. Kalau kita diatas, itu juga tempoh masa yang dipinjamkan. Jadi untuk apa jua situasi, lebih baik kita hidup dengan aman dan tenang. Setiap kali aku melihat satu perkara dunia, kalau dibuat perbandingan dengan jangka hayat yang telah Tuhan tetapkan, akan ternampak kecil faedahnya.

Tapi aku kan manusia, yang memang dilahirkan dengan kesalahan.

Reverie

Final Year

Sudah masuk tahun ketiga di Warwick University. Lepas ni nak balik maktab semula. Jom layan video ni: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kiEYi55cfQ&feature=results_video&lr=1&ob=0

Peranan Belia dan NGO dalam sistem pendidikan Malaysia

1. Sistem akademik di Malaysia berpandu kepada peperiksaan ataupun 'exam-oriented'

2. Rata-rata kita terutamanya remaja dan anak muda tidak bersetuju dengan sistem yang sedia ada.

3. Mereka memberikan alasan pelajar ditekan untuk belajar dan hasilnya adalah pelajar umpama 'robot' yang hanya cemerlang dibidang akademik tetapi lemah dari segi lain.

4. Ada juga yang mengatakan bahawa sistem yang ada tidak menguntungkan para pelajar yang lemah dari segi akademik lalu mereka terus tersisih.

5. Saya setuju dengan kesemua kenyataan diatas tetapi bagi saya buat masa ini sistem yang sedia ada sudah cukup memadai untuk pendidikan dinegara kita.

6. Tetapi peranan guru dan NGO perlu dipertingkat dan diperluaskan lagi.

7. Selain daripada mengajar ilmu dikelas, para guru juga perlu memerhati, menilai dan cuba mencungkil bakat para pelajar serta mengarahkan perjalanan mereka kearah yang mereka mahir.

8. Saya ambil contoh seorang rakan yang merupakan guru berpengalaman bercerita kisah pelajarnya yang pemalu didalam kelas tetapi setelah dinilai dan diperhati sebenarnya dia mempunyai bakat tersendiri dari segi penghasilan video, montaj dan media artwork. Lalu bakat pelajar tersebut dicungkil apabila dia diarah membantu produksi teater dari segi media, video dan montaj. Ternyata bakatnya hebat sehinggakan video montaj yang dihasilkannya masih digunakan di SMK Munshi Abdullah sehingga masa kini. Dia sekarang menuntut di universiti di bidang yang diminati dan dia mahir.

9. Seterusnya peranan NGO terutamanya belia patut diperluaskan. Ambil contoh Projek Kalsom dan Teach for Malaysia.

10. Projek Kalsom ataupun kem motivasi pelajar yang disertakan dengan bengkel kerjaya, maklumat bidang-bidang ijazah dan pemantapan bahasa inggeris diterapkan dikalangan pelajar-pelajar susah. Projek ini merupakan gerakan dan inisiatif daripada pelajar universiti sendiri.

11. Begitu juga Teach for Malaysia dimana mahasiswa-mahasiswa dari luar negara pelbagai bidang boleh diserap masuk untuk program mengajar disekolah-sekolah kerajaan selama dua tahun.

12. Selain itu, pemantapan dan bengkel kemahiran seperti silap mata, teater, seni lukis serta musik boleh dijalankan dan dibantu oleh mereka-mereka yang berkemahiran dan diberikan secara percuma buat adik-adik dari keluarga susah.

13. Sekiranya NGO, belia dan guru-guru dapat memainkan peranan ini nescaya lompong-lompong didalam sistem pendidikan kita dapat diisi.

14. Lalu anda bagaimana? Apakah yang telah anda lakukan untuk menyumbang kepada sistem pendidikan dan anak bangsa kita?

15. Atau anda sekadar bercakap dan menuding jari tanpa melakukan apa-apa inisiatif secara sendiri?

16. "Some people want it to happen, some people wish it would happen, others make it happen" (Michael Jordan)

Salam dan selamat,
Reverie Malaya ;)

(Tak salah kalau bermimpi)

Bringing Spanish Culture out of Spain!

Spanish band performance

Ibiza beaches style Lepak!

F1 Store

Sepak-sepak, dapat masuk nama dalam Top Scorer! haha

Paella. Nasi goreng ala Spanish

Orchestra main lagu Spanish

En. Amar Najib try score goal

Cups: Spanish La Liga & European Champions League

Cups: World Cup and Euro Cup 2008

I managed to attend the Spanish fiesta just now at Regent Street, London. It's quite a famous street for shopping with many designer boutiques alongside the road, and they close the road for Spanish Fiesta. It's super awesome! ;)

The World Cup's Cup is there because Spain won the last World Cup. Dapat tengok World Cup, Champions League Cup, Euro Cup. Dapat try Spanish food, taster. Entah apa nama, aku tak tahu. Aku rembat je, asal halal, jeruk Jalapeno pun ada. Boleh ambil gambar with the World Cup sebenarnya, tapi nak beratur punya panjang. Aku pass je la. Ambil gambar dari jauh saja.

Style karnival ini adalah street carnival. Sepanjang jalan, dia buka booth melambangkan tempat-tempat di Spain. Contoh tempat Real madrid they put Football Cups, Champions League and buat aktiviti shooting bola. Those yang dapat score more than 200 points dapat masuk top scorer. Nak score point byk, kena sepak bola kat penjuru gol. It's more or less like dart board game, dapat shoot tempat yang susah, dapat extra point. We tried twice and I managed to get into the scoreboard. Bangga, satu-satunya nama Melayu kat scoreboard. haha. ;p

Ada tempat dia buat macam beach style, to symbolise Ibiza. Other activities like basketball shooting, persembahan kuda, orchestra and band performance pun ada. It was fun and a very new and refreshing idea for me. Biasanya orang buat karnival dekat tempat dia and ajak orang datang to their country. But for Spain, they brought out their interesting places out of Spain to Regent Street, London which is a very cool tourism promotion thing for me. And they give out free stuffs too, termasuk free food, drinks, Spanish beer and others. Berbaloi juga jalan hujan-hujan, dapat baju Spanish selai.

Apa rasanya if Malaysia buat benda yang sama. If tak dapat London, kat Indonesia dahulu pun boleh. ;)

Sketsa dunia politik

Kalau politik boleh dpentaskan, pasti akan ada:

Terlalu banyak konflik, hidup laju entah hendak ke mana, permusuhan tanpa pengakhiran, pembunuhan dan tikam belakang kawan.

Terlalu banyak cium bontot, jadi puppet, dua muka, senyum plastik, hati hitam, masam muka, hidung tinggi dan besar kepala.

Sudah semakin susah untuk mencari kejujuran dalam politik.

Lagi baik kita hayati lagu ini. Salam!

A meet with Dato' Shabery Cheek

Salam sejahtera to all fellow Malaysians.

Alhamdulillah, I've gotten the chance to meet with Dato' Shabery Cheek with some of my friends and counterparts on the capacity of Projek Kalsom Deputy Director. I would like to say Alhamdulillah again as our proposal for Projek Kalsom 17 was endorsed by the Minister of Youth and Sports and he expressed full support and interest to assist us in ways he can. This is good news, and the Projek Kalsom 17 committee will commit to our level best to fulfill what we can achieve.

Now please allow me to share a bit of my experience with this leader of ours. My first unofficial 'meet' with him was when I saw him debating Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in television and honestly from that point of view, I felt the debate got carried away in a very personal way by him which is not so professional. Hence, my first impression of him is not quite good.

However now I can confirm that this humble minister of ours is quite a down to earth guy. He's very friendly, very nice and smiles a lot. He scooped food for us while we waited in a line for the buffet. He scooped until all the rice in the tray finishes. And he went to all the tables talking to us students. He invited students to join him in his table for dinner. And the best part is when we(the Projek Kalsom 17 committee) approach him to propose our Projek, he spent some of his time to understand our projek and straight away call his p.a to give instructions on how to help us with. A straight away endorsement! I find this very nice of him as a minister, although he can ask us to send the proposal to him and he'll look at it, but he took some time reading it and asking questions to understand it and straight away give things that we need.

Kata orang, tak kenal maka tak cinta. I feel he's a good person and my first impression of him is a total opposite impression as how I view him after today. I hope and will pray for his success and may many more leaders who are down to earth like him been born in Malaysia not caring whether they're from government or opposition. Good leaders are for us to respect and pledge full support.

At least he's unlike some so-called people leaders who care about how many people will come to his event or talk, or berkira sangat penat nak jumpa student. This kind of leader, boleh bungkus nanti. I would want a leader who's approachable, friendly and open and now I can confirm, Dato' Shabery Cheek is one of them, as for now.

Will be meeting Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and Khairy Jamaluddin next weekend, insyAllah. Is hoping to pitch another proposal for Projek Kalsom to Datuk Seri Shahrizat, please do pray for us. ;)

* Hail to our national racer hero, Azizulhasni Awang who had an accident during race tragically but still managed to make us proud. I'm so touched by his spirit and patriotism! More of his story HERE.

Talk: A Frank Discussion with Khalid Ibrahim

Didoakan semoga semua berada dalam keadaan sejahtera sentiasa.

Atas kapasiti sebagai seorang junior executive untuk UKEC, aku berpeluang untuk menyertai talk bersama Menteri Besar Selangor sebentar tadi di Cass Business School, London. Walaupun berada disitu dengan tugas namun sempat mendengar pandangan dan pendapat yang diluahkan oleh YAB MB. Beliau hadir bersama dua lagi tokoh, seorang adalah Tricia Yeoh manakala seorang lagi aku lupa nama Tan Sri tu.

Pertamanya, aku bersetuju seperti apa yang dinyatakan oleh Pengerusi UKEC, Farquar Haqqani bahawa gaya penyampaian oleh YAB MB adalah ibarat pesanan daripada seorang ayah kepada anak-anaknya. Penyampaian yang tenang, berisi dan seperti mempunyai penyelitan harapan buat kami, pelajar yang menyertai. Namun kelajuan penyampaian yang agak perlahan kadang-kadang membuatkan aku sedikit terkhayal dan juga memakan masa sesi soal jawab.

Banyak isu yang disampaikan dan dikupas. Antara yang ditekankan adalah situasi politik baru di Malaysia dimana kehadiran PR membawa revolusi politik baru di Malaysia. Parti politik dan ahli parlimen serta ahli dewan undangan negeri terutama di Selangor dibawah pimpinan YB MB beranggapan accountability terhadap rakyat adalah penting dan menjadi keutamaan. Oleh sebab ini, kerajaan PR di Selangor telah mengetengahkan beberapa langkah untuk memastikan transparency menjadi kenyataan, contohnya memulakan SELCAT.

YAB MB juga mengulas sedikit mengenai isu air di Selangor. Dimana diantara kerajaan Selangor dan sektor persendirian telah ada perjanjian untuk membenarkan kenaikan harga air sebanyak 15% setiap dua tahun. YAB MB kemudian memperkatakan, beliau telah mengira sendiri secara kasar dan berpendapat bahawa kerajaan negeri dapat menyediakan perkhidmatan yang sama dengan harga yang lebih murah lalu YAB MB mengambil keputusan untuk tidak menurut tuntutan oleh sektor persendirian untuk menaikkan harga minyak setiap dua tahun.

Disamping itu, YAB MB berkongsi satu peristiwa dimana beliau telah enggan merasmikan jalan berturap yang baru dibina sepanjang 30km dengan menyatakan bahawa, apabila ditanya berapa kos jalan itu, kontraktor menyatakan Rm900 juta. Namun beliau berkata bahawa sewaktu terlibat dalam usaha membina lebuhraya Guthrie sepanjang 32 km dahulu, kosnya hanyalah Rm320 juta. Atas sebab tidak bersetuju dengan kos dan menganggap terdapat salah guna kuasa maka YAB MB mengambil sikap enggan untuk merasmikan jalan itu. Beliau turut menekankan bahawa PR akan bersetuju dengan projek-projek yang membawa manfaat kepada rakyat tanpa mengira sama ada projek itu daripada BN atau PR.

Mengulas tentang isu Khusrin, YAB MB menceritakan perihal sejarah dimana kerajaan BN dibawah pimpinan Tun Mahathir telah meminda perlembagaan supaya kuasa Raja untuk menentukan pelantikan Setiausaha Kerajaan ditarik. Mengambil contoh daripada perkara ini, YAB MB berkata PR diSelangor cuba untuk menunda pindaan ini bagi memberikan semula kuasa melantik S/U Kerajaan Negeri kepada Sultan Selangor tetapi usul ini telah ditolak mentah-mentah oleh semua ADUN BN di Selangor. Maka tanpa majoriti 2/3, usul ini tidak dapat diteruskan. YAB MB seterusnya membuat penjelasan betapa UMNO yang selalunya memperjuangkan ketuanan Melayu sendiri telah menolak pindaan usul yang akan mengembalikan kuasa ketangan sultan Melayu. Beliau turut menambah bahawa perkara ini menunjukkan terdapat fahaman dan permainan politik yang tidak sihat berlaku diMalaysia dimana usul ditolak bukan kerana usul itu tidak baik tetapi kerana parti menyuruh untuk menolak usul tersebut.

Berkaitan dengan perkara diatas, YAB MB menekankan sekali lagi kepentingan politik baru dimana ahli politik bukan sahaja perlu lebih transparent kepada rakyat, tetapi juga mengambil keputusan berdasarkan kepentingan rakyat dan bukan kepentingan parti. Sekiranya sesuatu perkara itu baik untuk rakyat, maka lebih baik disokong biarpun datang daripada pembangkang ataupun kerajaan.

Seterusnya sesi soal jawab dibuka dengan 2 pusingan dimana persoalan mengenai sistem pengangkutan di Malaysia dan adakah pilihanraya negeri Selangor akan menuruti seruan YAB Perdana Menteri sekiranya YAB PM memanggil Pilihanraya umum tahun ini. Soalan mengenai keberkesanan dasar kerajaan Selangor memberikan subsidi dalam bentuk air kepada rakyat sama ada adakah dasar ini boleh diteruskan untuk jangka masa panjang tanpa menjejaskan ekonomi Selangor ataupun kerajaan Selangor sekadar mengambil dasar populis jangka masa pendek untuk memperoleh undi rakyat Selangor turut ditanya. Bagi aku jawapan yang diberikan oleh YAB MB Selangor adalah memuaskan dan menepati soalan-soalan yang diajukan kepada beliau.

Sekian. Selamat. ;)

How do we know if there is a God?

Muhammad saw once said,

The presence of a dung proves a camel was here.

The footprint left in the sand proves a person was here.

And the proofs of these world, sky, land and creations are evidences that something with bigger power(Allah) is here.

*These sentences are partly taken from a talk by Bro. Khalid Yassin here.

Luncheon: Datuk Mustapa Mohamed

Salam ;)

Tahun lepas aku berkesempatan untuk menyertai rombongan (Datuk Mustapa Mohamed)Tok Pa di Birmingham yang mana seramai lebih kurang 30 pelajar Malaysia turut serta. Waktu itu rombongan Tok Pa bertemu dengan pelajar dibilik mesyuarat dimana Tok Pa memberikan ucapan dan kemudian diikuti dengan sesi soal jawab.

Baru sebentar tadi aku bersama seorang lagi rakan berkesempatan untuk hadir ke Luncheon bersama dengan Tok Pa yang sedang dalam perjalanan ke World Economic Forum di Davos. Beliau mengambil kesempatan untuk bertemu dengan golongan pelajar, professional Malaysians yang bekerja diUK dan kesatuan pemilik restoran Malaysia diUK.

Pertemuan ini berkonsep 'sambil makan sambil borak'. Pertamanya Tok Pa telah datang duduk dimeja aku dan berborak secara kasual. Sembang tentang scholar mana, tentang siapa sponsor dan sebagainya. Dari satu meja pelajar ke meja yang lain.

Kemudian Tok Pa memberi sedikit ucapan berkaitan tujuan beliau datang, progress ekonomi Malaysia dan isu-isu lain. Ucapan yang agak general dan tidak spesifik, mungkin kerana tidak cukup masa. Setelah itu sesi soal jawab, beberapa orang bertanyakan soalan seperti bagaimana pelajar Malaysia boleh membantu mempromosi Malaysia dimata dunia? Apakah langkah utama kerajaan dalam menangani masalah brain drain golongan professionals Malaysians yang selepas habis belajar terus bekerja dinegara lain? Dan juga permintaan daripada golongan pemilik restoran Malaysia yang meminta bantuan kewangan daripada kerajaan dalam usaha mereka mempromosi Malaysia. Jawapan yang diberikan adalah agak general tetapi beberapa perkara seperti Pemandu dan TalentCorps dapat disentuh oleh Tok Pa.

Setelah itu Tok Pa berangkat untuk mengejar flight ke Davos dalam masa setengah jam lagi. Para pelajar semuanya keluar ke lobi dewan dan menunggu untuk bergambar beramai-ramai bersama Tok Pa. Setelah bergambar Tok Pa bersalaman dengan semua yang ada disitu. Aku ingat lagi bila ada pelajar perempuan nak salam dengan beliau, Tok Pa berkata,"Saya ada air sembahyang." sambil mengangguk tanda hormat kepada pelajar itu.

Lalu majlis tamat dan kami lepak kejap minum teh dan kopi sambil berborak dengan kawan-kawan daripada universiti lain. Dan pulang ke Warwick University.

*Tak ada masalah pun jika tak mahu bersalaman dengan bukan Islam berlainan jantina. Beri sebab(educate) dan tunjuk rasa hormat kepada mereka. Pasti mereka faham. Itulah fungsi saudara-saudara Islam yang lain supaya mereka faham kenapa Muslim ada restrictions.

Is Islam proud of us?

This entry is based on understanding of today's jumaat khutba at Coventry University Prayer Hall.

We can say, all of us Muslimin and Muslimat that we are proud of Islam. We can claim today we are Muslims, the ummah of Muhammad saw. Yet the real question is are Islam proud of us?

Many of us have lots of theoritical knowledge about Islam. We know many things because we read and attend lectures. Yet most of us fail to realize that practicality is better than any theory. What good is an engineer who memorise all engineering books but have never operate any engine before? The same applies to Muslims. What good are we if we can memorise lots of Surah and Hadith yet fail to realize and perform what were said in the Surah and Hadith.

All Muslims, we should have 3 things. First is belief. Believe in Islam. In the words of Allah and his messengers. After belief, comes the importance of actions. Take actions based on what we were told. However all actions will only be counted if we can have the third element in them which is sincerity. Have these 3 elements, belief, action and sincerity, insyaAllah we will become good Muslims.

And don't we expect to pass this life test easily. All Muslims who said 'We believe.', your belief shall be tested and assessed with test and trials by Allah. "And those who turned to my sunnah at times where his imaan is at the lowest, are the guided ones." Said Rasulullah saw.

We muslims should be proud of our teachings. We should be dogmatic. Say what is right and prohibit what is wrong. Stand up for who you are or you'll stand up for anything and everything else.

*A remembrance to oneself and to others.

Selamat.

Mudahnya menjemput seorang pemimpin Ulama'

Sebelum ini, aku sebenarnya tidak pernah bertemu dengan Tuan Guru Haji Hadi Awang. Tidak juga pernah berimpian untuk bertemu dengan beliau. Dan tidak juga selalu mengikuti perkembangan tentang beliau dan PAS secara direct. Yang aku tahu, terdapat juga mereka-mereka yang mencemuh Tuan Guru Haji Hadi dalam pelbagai cara dan tentang pelbagai isu. Dalam entri ni aku nak berkongsi tentang bagaimana Diskusi: Politik.Islam & PAS dapat diadakan diWarwick semalam.

Aku balik daripada FuIYO 2010, di Waddow Hall, Clithroe dan singgah diManchester beberapa hari yang lepas pada 26th December. Dan berkesempatan untuk menyertai ucapan perasmian PRC oleh Tuan Guru Haji Hadi di Manchester Conference Centre. Selesai ucapan itu, aku terfikir, bagus juga kalau dapat bawa Tuan Guru ke Warwick kerana daripada talknya di Manchester itu, aku rasa banyak ilmu yang beliau sampaikan. Lalu aku bertanyakan wakil beliau untuk menjemput Tuan Guru ke Warwick. Malam tu aku terima satu mesej, dikatakan Tuan Guru sudi untuk ke Warwick. Tapi boleh antara Selasa dan Rabu saja kerana Khamis(hari ni) sudah mau balik ke Malaysia untuk membantu kempen PAS di Tenang.

Jadi pendek kata aku setuju untuk buat talk hari Rabu, 29 Disember. Disebabkan masa yang singkat dan jemputan yang ad-hoc aku gagal untuk dapatkan bilik kuliah yang proper untuk talk. Kawan aku pesan, nak buat event untuk Tuan Guru biarlah proper sikit. Beliaukan Presiden PAS, antara calon Perdana Menteri sekiranya PR menang PRU akan datang. Aku usaha nak dapatkan bilik, tapi tak boleh booking sebab office university tutup kerana cuti New Year. Bilik2 pun penuh kerana ada Jew Conference di sekitar Warwick University. Maka hanya dapat buat diPrayer Hall.

Berkaitan dengan promosi, sekadar promosi menggunakan FB saja. Buat flyers dan tag beramai-ramai. Seterusnya bergantung kepada buah mulut rakan-rakan. Aku jangkakan dalam 30 orang yang akan hadir untuk talk ini. Lalu satu kali tu aku telefon wakil Tuan Guru dan berterus-terang, "Oleh kerana agak ad-hoc, saya hanya dapat Prayer Hall sebagai tempat. Tak ada mic, lcd projektor dsbnya. Jemputan pula saya anggarkan dalam 30 orang." Lalu aku diberitahu, tak mengapa. Tuan Guru tak kisah. Kalau beberapa orang pun beliau tak kisah. Lalu aku terfikir, betapa mudahnya nak jemput seorang ulama untuk diskusi bersama pelajar. Bukan calang-calang orang pula tu, antara ulama besar dunia.

Seterusnya aku bayangkan, kalaulah yang nak datang ni Menteri di kabinet Malaysia dan aku hanya dapat buat event di Prayer Hall. Anggaran dalam 30 orang. Tak boleh aku bayang apa kata menteri tu nanti. Sebab selalunya kalau event untuk menteri, mestilah 'grand', mesti ramai. Jika tak ramai pun, buat di hotel atau bilik kuliah yang proper dan sebagainya.

Kami di warwick pun pernah diberitahu oleh seorang pemimpin organisasi Malaysia di UK yang beliau nak buat event diwarwick. Lalu kami buatkan proposal, siapkan aturan event segalanya. Tinggal nak dapatkan 'yes' daripada pemimpin tu. Selepas hantar proposal tu kepada beliau, beliau kata "I'll contact you guys later about this." Lalu tunggu punya tunggu, sampai 10 minggu tak ada berita langsung. Pelik. Yang nak buat event, beliau sendiri. Siap proposal semuanya, hilang tanpa berita. Jadi disini aku boleh lihat dan buat kesimpulan sendiri, betapa berbezanya individu-individu berdasarkan dengan pegangan mereka. Ramai antara pemimpin yang apabila jadi pemimpin mereka merasakan mereka besar dan hebat walhal jika menurut Islam, memimpin itu adalah satu tanggungjawab dan bukannya kemegahan.

Aku cuma nak berkongsi pengalaman buat event untuk Presiden PAS yang sangat merendah diri dan bersifat redha. Sebenarnya aku amat risau tentang diskusi yang baru lepas ni. Aku risau takut ada yang tak bersetuju dengan venue di Prayer Hall. Aku risau takut tak ramai yang datang. Aku risau takut tak habis on time. Tapi Alhamdulillah, hampir 60 orang hadir, dan 40 orang tonton secara live diUstream. Event habis tepat-tepat jam 9.30pm dan tiada masalah dengan venue. Alhamdulillah kerana semuanya mendapat kemudahan daripada Allah S.W.T.

InsyaAllah masa akan datang, lebih banyak event akan dibuat di Warwick. Dah ada yang kami bincangkan nak buat, mudah-mudahan mendapat kemudahan dan dapat dilaksanakan untuk manfaat semua.

Selamat.

Islam,Politik&PAS by Tuan Guru Haji Hadi Awang

Baru selesai sesi diskusi bersama Tuan Guru Haji Hadi Awang, selaku ulama dan Presiden PAS di Prayer Hall, Warwick Uni. Ucapan terima kasih untuk semua yang membantu documentation of event, organisation of event dan bantu hidang dan kemaskan jamuan. Begitu juga kepada semua yang berjaya menghadirkan diri dan yang mendengar dirumah atau bilik masing-masing melalui UStream. Dianggar seramai hampir 100 orang telah turut serta dengan 60 orang hadir dan 40 melalui Ustream. Alhamdulillah.

Antara perkara yang dikongsi oleh Tuan Guru adalah, bagaimana ideologi2 dan sistem pemerintahan sekular sekarang yang semakin runtuh dan jatuh. Bagaimana jatuhnya komunisme bawaan Karl Marx, Engel, dan tokoh2 sosialis lain. Bagaimana kita lihat sistem ekonomi dunia yang berlandaskan kapitalisme semakin punah dan meleset. Tuan guru juga mengambil contoh masalah2 sosial yang berlaku didalam masyarakat sekarang. Menceritakan tentang keruntuhan akhlak masyarakat, terutamanya diMalaysia. Dan apakah penyelesaian untuk masalah dunia? Islam.

Tuan Guru menerangkan bagaimana Islam dapat membantu mengatasi masalah ekonomi, iaitu melalui penghapusan riba' dan pelaksanaan ekonomi Islam. Seterusnya penerangan tentang sistem hukum hudud dalam Islam, bagaimana salah tanggapan orang awam berkaitan hukum hudud kerana tiada ilmu dan pendedahan. Bahawa hukum hudud contoh potong tangan bukan sekadar memotong tangan, tetapi perlu ambil kira birokrasi atau syarat sebelum terjatuhnya hukum hudud itu sendiri. Proses ini tidak diterangkan. Lalu rata-rata masyarakat meng'cop' hukum hudud sebagai barbaric kerana kekurangan ilmu mengenai hukum hudud itu sendiri.

Seterusnya Tuan Guru berkongsi bahawa dalam sistem demokrasi, media adalah saksi dan rakyat adalah hakim. Tetapi akibat daripada berat sebelah dan laporan media yang tidak adil, maka rakyat gagal untuk menghakimi dengan adil. Jika kita lihat diMalaysia, laporan media utama Malaysia yang berat sebelah menyebabkan kecelaruan dalam pemahaman masyarakat. Isu2 dimainkan, dan menyebabkan salah faham.

Seterusnya Tuan Guru turut menerangkan serba sedikit hubungan dengan DAP dan PKR. dimana kollaborasi adalah bersifat longgar. PAS bekerjasama setakat mana yang mereka bersetuju. Isu-isu yang tidak mendapat persetujuan ramai, tidak dibangkitkan. Tetapi PAS tetap berpegang teguh kepada perjuangan Islam. Isu negara Islam, jika dulu Karpal Singh cakap 'langkah mayat saya dulu sebelum mau laksanakan negara Islam', sekarang Karpal Singh berkata pula "Isu negara Islam boleh dibincangkan lagi.

Antara persoalan yang ditimbulkan:

1) Bagaimana jika didalam PAS sendiri ada korupsi?

Jawapan: PAS terbuka. Suruhanjaya Pencegah Rasuah bebas menyiasat kerana PAS sendiri tidak mau jika ada orang2 rasuah didalam PAS. Jika ada, biarlah ditangkap dan dibuang daripada parti.

2) Bagaimana peranan NGO2 Islam yang lain seperti ABIM dll diMalaysia pada pandangan PAS?

Jawapan: Untuk mentadbir, tidak boleh melalui satu pihak saja. PAS faham dan sedar, untuk mentadbir dengan berjaya, kita perlukan teknokrat2 dan golongan2 professional lain. Jadi PAS mau semua bersama-sama menggunakan kepakaran yang ada untuk menjayakan pentadbiran selagi tidak bertentangan dengan perjuangan Islam.

3) IR Nizar pernah berkata, dalam perlembagaan PAS tidak dinyatakan keinginan untuk melaksanakan negara Islam. Sila ulas.

Jawapan: Memang dalam perlembagaan PAS tidak disebut negara Islam. Istilah tidak penting. Kerana perjuangan PAS berdasarkan perlembagaan adalah untuk perjuangan yang bertepatan dengan Al-Quran, Sunnah, Khilaf Ulama. Bermakna selagi tidak lari daripada asas perjuangan ini, PAS akan menyokong dan terus berjuang.

4) Bagaimana peranan kami sebagai pelajar untuk turut membantu perjuangan PAS dalam menegakkan syariah Islam dalam pada masa yang sama mahu akur dengan kehendak kerajaan dan tanggungjawab sebagai pelajar?

Jawapan: Sebagai pelajar, jadilah yang paling cemerlang dalam bidang masing-masing. Untuk memperjuangkan Islam bukan sebagai ahli politik sahaja. Tetapi boleh juga sebagai teknokrat, atau professional. Jadi yang cemerlang dalam bidang masing2 dan balik nanti berbaktilah dalam kemampuan anda untuk Islam.

Ada banyak lagi percakapan, isi-isi dan persoalan yang dihujahkan, ditanya dan dijawab, tapi berdasarkan catatan dan ingatan, yang ditulis ini antara yang penting. Tuan Guru juga ada bercerita tentang sejarah perjuangan PAS, ketika bersatu dengan UMNO. Apa yang PAS lakukan sewaktu bersatu. Tuan Guru juga ada berkongsi kisah Rasulullah bertemu dengan bani Amir, bani Syaiban dan Bani Aus & Khazraj ketika musim haji jahilliyah untuk menyebarkan Islam dan bagaimana reaksi mereka. InsyaAllah akan ditulis dalam entri yang lain.

Notis penting:

a) Tulisan entri ini adalah gabungan daripada dua talk oleh Tuan Guru yang sempat dihadiri, yang pertama diManchester beberapa hari yang lepas dan kedua diWarwick Uni sebentar tadi.

b)Ada rakaman video dan gambar-gambar yang diambil, akan diupload dan diupdate apabila siap editing nanti.

c) Tulisan ini bukanlah sebiji-sebiji kata-kata yang keluar dari mulut Tuan Guru tapi telah diolah mengikut pemahaman saya.

d) Sebarang kesalahan atau kekurangan minta jasa baik beritahu supaya boleh diubah dengan segera.

Terima kasih dan selamat! ;)

Second Winter in Coventry

It's my second winter here in the United Kingdom. Still this winter brings mesmerization to me as though it's my first ever winter. Like it's the first time when I met Mr snow. Here's are some pictures of the first drop of snow here in Coventry taken two weeks ago.

Hearsall Common. The common where the first jet were flew.

The first few drops of snow

Frost on plants

Frosting grass

Frost on plants

I have no proper plans to go on vacation this winter. But I do have a winter camp next week for around 4 days. And some paperworks to complete and an assignment due in January 2011.

p/s: photos are taken by my phone camera. DSLR tinggal kat Malaysia, kerana diservis.

Selamat! and Happy winter holiday! ;)

Cartoons campaign

As a campaign to stop child-violence, people change their fb profile picture to their favourite cartoon character. Well, I couldn't decide the one character I favour the most so I post ten here. Some of them are known to many, some are not. Some are international, while some are local. Enjoy, ;)

I'm a big fan of slapstick cartoons, especially the kind where no dialogues get involved. And I kind of love some cartoons because of their exceptional poor quality of production, scripts and voices used that they make me not want to miss them. And I also believe, cartoons with moral teachings should be lessen. It takes out the fun cause cartoons represent imagination. I for sure do not want imagination to be limited to only orthodox beliefs of the world being a nice place where people help and correct each other doings when it's not always the case. However to disclaim, I believe cartoons should not be misused to wrongly represent believes of ones culture and as a mean of provocation.

At the end of the day, the purpose of this entry is to promote the case against child-violence. Now, what are your cartoon favourites?

Cheers ;)

A night at Khairul's in Highbury

I went to London last weekend to attend a UKEC interview for junior executive position which were described as being the internship process for UKEC. The role of junior exec were also described as being the 'balaci' for other higher execs in UKEC by one of my friends. Well, with being the 'balaci' then only you'll know the true nature of its execution right? ;) That's one of the reason why I decided to go for the post. I was asked, you already have PROJEK KALSOM in hands, why junior executive? Apart from wanting to learn how UKEC does things, I have personal reasons for this. Well I didn't know of UKEC in my first year. Had I known, I would have gone for it. So, this is to compensate for my 'sort of loss' in my first year. And this is basically like a challenge for myself. How far can I go. I believe, being a youth and ambitious, I might as well test myself in this manner. Having 3 organisations to juggle while at the same time to fulfill my responsibility as a scholar here is personal ambition I would say. I believe I can do it, this is the test to check my belief.

As the title suggests, I was welcomed by Khairul Ariffin and Yan. Khairul, a young lad, ambitious too and has all the positiveness to try and change this world to a better place. He's helping with PROJEK KALSOM's video and publicity voluntarily. Yan, a very unique lady. She's the kind of lady I would expect to meet in an 'Alice in the Wonderland' type of story. Now don't ask me why would I described her in such a way, I can't explain, I just do.

They welcomed me with a meal, fish and chips, claimed to be 'the best in the world' by Yan. And after tasting it, I would say very much the same. At least the best fish and chips I've ever tasted. Then we went to Khairul's place, an awesome place in the old former Arsenal's Highbury stadium. Spent a night there where we talked about many stuffs ranging from Malaysian political scene until the reform in education as proposed by Sir Ken Robinson. Which was a former lecturer in Warwick Unversity. Exchanged books ranging from 'A Rebel's guide to Marxism' to political economics books suggested by Yan i.e. Freakonomics which I have yet to be able to find and read. The awesome thing was, I received a copy of the Inception script written by Christopher Nolan himself. Khairul also taught me some tips in script-writing accompanied by the awesome 'Hummingbird Bakery Cupcake - Red Velvet' and 'Yan's Homemade Lasagne'. In the morning we ate breakfast and off I go for UKEC interview. There were a 'London Jazz Festival' that saturday evening which I missed. Entirely because I didn't know of it and had bought a fixed return ticket to Coventry at 5.43pm. Darn! Must try to go next year if I have the chance. Before boarding my train, I had another go on the fish and chips meal.

All in all, arrived in Coventry at 6 something pm with a soar feet, the new pair of shoes is yet to fit in well with my feet, but satisfied. Had I decided not to go for UKEC interview, I can never know how the process looks like and didn't get the chance to learn the work of Sir Ken Robinson and other discreet stuffs which are not to be said here.

Cheers and Salam! ;)

Paths, decisions and destiny

In this part of life's full journey, here is where we'll always meet the paths to our destiny. People said sometimes we are destined to do what we do. Yet, I'm more pleased to believe that it is us who choose our own paths to our own destiny.

From what I've learnt so far, I can see that many teenagers are actually not ready to face the fight they will have to one day. Life's a fight and yes it's true. It's just that not many people recognize life as a fight. At least when we're out of our comfort zone, it's like a battlefield for us, to create another comfort zone again. Yet, teens do not know of this. Do not know of the opportunities they're gonna miss if they do not engage themselves fully in this fight or if they're not ready.

At the end of the day, it's gonna be just you and yourself at the end of the path. It is only you and your decision whether to take another step or to just stand there, watching or waiting for something, sort of a miracle to happen to you. But hey, in life, miracle seldom occurs.

Hence, why don't we start to gear up and be ready to engage in the fight, ourselves. After all, there's no one to turn to, when you're all alone. And believe me, life has taught me so much until now to believe that I'm gonna be all alone in the end. At least when I don't have my family around.

Short note 2

Sometimes I feel lonely, and that no one else can understand what I'm saying. You get what I mean?

Respond: ;)?

Selamat.