咬文嚼字

I am tired and lazy today to blog and the easiest way is to let the pictures speak for themselves. I am not advertising but I really admire mum for her creativity and her tidiness in producing those many blankets which are liked by so many people.

I always believe in the existence of two types of businessman, i.e. one is born to be and the other type is trained to be. My family and I do not belong to any of that. We do not know how to do business. Our personality and our brought up just deny us from being able to become businessmen. Let me tell a story here. My mum is just an ordinary old lady in her early 70s. She is still energetic and she always psses her time by making some patch work from the left over of the cotton cloth. She is most proud of her blanket made from those patch work. The number of blankets keep increasing and upon our advice she started to sell some of them. A few days ago, a relative from Miri was very sure that she wanted 6 blankets(tampal seribu) from her. At that time, mum was in Brunei and the relative called her in order to pay her even though the blankets were still in Sibu. If mum is a business lady, she would definitely collect the money immediately. However, since she is not, she told the...

When I get retired one day later, I am sure I will regret for my whole life on my failure to educate the children to be punctual. It was 21 years since I was transferred to my present school. Since then, I had always adhered to my principle of never been late for any function or entering classes. I have never been tired in telling students to come on time, should not be late, have to be punctual for an uncountable frequency. Sad to say, after so many years of repeating the same thing, I failed to correct their attitude. I attributed the act of being not punctual and the act of favouring procrastination  to the brought up background and the culture which is rooted in their everyday life. Sigh! Those are students. When come to my colleagues, it is a headache to the examination secretary to key in the marks punctually to produce the students' record. The due date has no meaning to a group of teachers. I really can't tolerate when the date is due and the papers are still unmarke...

It has been a headache to me and the Science Department for the disposal of chemical waste from the lab which is accumulated until now since the school started in 1985. Thanks God for meeting our ex-boy who is the environmental manager of Trienneken. After talking to him the other day, I immediately forward a letter to him and that is how I come about dealing with its branch in Bintulu. I was told to contact a personnel called Patricia. This Patricia has a very attractive voice and even though I didn't know how she looks like, I know she must be a very friendly, easy to get along and very polite lady. The conversation with her this afternoon has helped in the progress of the proposal and I am able to see light in the process. Hopefully, the chemicals can be disposed off in the very near future. Work need to be done and to be follow up. Otherwise, the products will be accumulating and finally, we feel we can't do anything with it. Bottles of chemicals will just be lying aroun...

After my wrist got injured, my working pace is slower and much work cannot be done. I need somebody's help to complete those work. 1. The task can be completed in 4 hours but they take 4 days and yet uncompleted. Today, I am bringing my boy to help me do the task. 2. The move to weigh all the waste chemicals in order to be disposed off took 2 hours and it was wrongly done. The whole process need to be repeated just to get the weight in kg. The outcome is late by 3 days as it can't be completed on Friday. The outcome can only be reported on the following Monday. 3. The handing over note by a teacher who has recently got her transfer is incomplete and we are chasing after her to complete whatever she has to complete. However she insisted that she had sent the task. She was asked to make an appointment with me yesterday afternoon but till now I received no news from her. The task will affect the students' result in the public exam!!!!! Responsible or irresponsible? I am ye...

Time and tides wait for no man. Three years just slipped away for my girl to be in a far away foreign land. Every friend says time is so fast but to be the investor in her education directly, we were not really feeling that way. We feel it is very slow and to her, I think she also feels the same. Only three years!! Another four more years to go!!!! Two days ago, she has ultimately completed her second year med. Within this period of time, she has really struggled for her study. She has 3 papers to sit for for this final exam, i.e. biochemistry, physiology and philosophy. She has told me that it is just impossible to get 5 in biochemistry. The friend who is better than her could only get 4 last semester. I told her that no matter how hard, as long as we try our best and we don't feel sorry and regret after the exam, that is enough. Physiology is also quite hard according to her. She mentioned many times whether she would be still alive after last monday as the paper fell on last mo...

I was told to join in the farewell dinner with our dear pengetua at Zuhra Hotel at 7:30p.m. Gladly, I asked my boy to send me and I reached on time. As I arrived, I saw GKTV and PKT6 with two PIBG committee members. I also sat down and chatted together with them. After our pengetua has arrived, we moved upstairs where the dinner was supposed to be taken. There are 2 tables ordered. Once I took a look at the dishes served, I told GK Kemanusiaan on my bad opinion of the food served. My colleague said other dishes may be just coming late. Well! I waited patiently for the nice food but I was very disappointed. The meal costs RM250.00!!! After bargaining for some time, we paid RM200.00 !!! Please try to have a look at the dishes and I presume I am not too cruel to say that the meal did not even worth RM100.00 per table! In other words, I can cook better than this is! How is business done? This is cutting throat. I will never invite my friends to this place if I am going to give them a ...

It becomes my habit to sign in my facebook account whenever I sit in front of my pc. There are many students, both ex and present. I make it a point to add ex-students only to my facebook. Even so, my facebook is flooded with students. Just imagine what I have done to my students all these years. I can see their excitement after I have added them. Just now, Mohd Hanif is an example. He was my student last year. A nice and polite boy, he is very helpful in class. He is so happy that I add him as a friend!!! Sometimes, I do think it is a great advantage to be a teacher where you can educate many students and they are so thankful to you. All the best to all of you my dear students. I do not know the number but 27 years of teaching, I can estimate the number to ...... 27 x 60 = 1620 students( a very reserved figure) who left Form 5 for further studies. Even if I am young, I also can't remember most of them. Please if you meet me in the street, come and introduce yourself o...

21/6/2010 I have made a mistake over which bone of my wrist cracked. It is my left radius which is minimally displaced and there is a crack in the bone. After 3 weeks with arm sling and silicone cement, I went through another 3 weeks without both the above but the doctor reminds me of not falling again as it will worsen the condition. These 6 weeks is a torture to me as I am  a one-sword woman where I have to do work with one hand only. Today, I see the doctor again on appointment for the 3rd time and an X-ray is taken just to check the progress of the bone joining. I am quite moody over my injury as I am unable to bend and twist normally and I am quite worried whether it is permanently or temporarily deformed like this. The doctor cleared my doubts just now. The X-ray shows normal growth and healing. The radius by nature after fracture becomes a little shorter which make my wrist a little bit out of shape but unnoticeable if not told. My fingers are numb and swollen. The do...

After coming back from Miri, we made another trip to Sarikei.Sometimes it is just a ride and nothing else. We visited the old house again and met up with the uncle. We were told that he has discovered a few bamboo shoots in the jungle beside his house. That is treasure to us as bamboo shoots is very delicious. Uncle helped in harvesting the bamboo shoots and hubby I was busy searching for "paku" which makes another nice dish. Bamboo shoots are rare and can only harvest by chance but paku is common. It can be harvested in a few days time. The skin of the bamboo shoots which are not edible. The harvesting of this shoot is a little too late. So it grows into this length. Each section is cut off at the joint part as they are too old to be taken. However the rest are still edible and when they are cut cross-sectionally, they are ring form. A big one which I brought back home to be cooked. The middle one is taken by uncle's son. It is such a beautiful and huge one. Fresh...

16/6/2010 一年一度的端午节，没想到是在美里与大伯伯母一起庆祝，只是难为了伯母。我那受伤的左手还是废的，根本就帮不上忙， 只能在厨房里跟他谈天说地。他从油棕园回来后，就在厨房里忙了一整个下午，整理菜肴，山珍海错，我自叹厨艺与他比较，相差十万八千里，不如不如也！她兴致很高，一边煮，一边一直跟我讲解煮法。看他满怀信心，我站在旁边，亲眼目睹他炒煮那些菜肴，我相信我或多或少都有学到一二。哈哈！我其实没那么差，只是比较懒惰一些吧！ 当天晚上，满桌垂涎三尺的菜肴，一一品尝，回味无穷。 酸甜排骨王煮罐头龙眼，味道一流。 麦片鸡胸肉，简单容易，我准备起来，一定能得心应手。 鸡蛋汤，又经济又好吃。 炒两包的白粿干， 全部吃个精光。唯一我要提起的是伯母的白粿干不是用水浸到软，而是放在滚水里煮到软后，才开始炒， 而且他炒的时候，还加水进窝里与白粿干一起炒。我以为一定没有我炒得好吃。可是味道与口感与我预备的比较，旗鼓相当，不然，也不会一下子被一扫而空。 酸甜石刀鱼。小孩子喜欢甜一些，味道恰到好处。我甘拜下风。 全鸡焖红酒。吃得差一点把舌头都吞进肚子里。伯母是酿红酒高手， 这一次，不只大快朵颐，还带回了两瓶她酿的上等红酒。 最远的一道是米粉干炒，非常入味。 八道菜肴，全部十个人，刚好一桌。每一道都得到好评。伯母好身手，好厨艺，是一个学习的对象。 米粉与蛋汤之间的是又香酥又入味的炸鸡翅膀。伯母对厨艺很有心得，况且，她不厌其烦，很乐意更我分享， 我非常惭愧，自叹不如。 当天晚上，八道菜肴如下： 1。炸鸡翅膀 2。酸甜罐头龙眼排骨王 3。麦片鸡 4。红酒焖全鸡 5。酸甜石刀鱼 6。鸡蛋汤 7。炒白粿干 8。米粉干炒

15/6/2010 We have planned to drive to Miri tomorrow with the intention of makan angin and at the same time bringing my boy home. I need to do some shopping of the kitchen stuff to stack up for the consumption for 3 days when we are not around. My boy will be around with the grandma. We give him a task to look after the grandma well. At his age, he should learn to be independent. Otherwise, how is he going to look after himself? This boy is liked by her teacher, I assume. Yesterday, he came back from extra class and told me that I don't need to worry about his transport to school for his extra class. The teacher is going to give him a lift.! Wah! It seems that he is far better than what I think in human interpersonal relationship. Boy! Keep it up. Communication skill is one of the essential equipments in daily life later.

15/6/2010 前年十二月柏斯之行，带了两个孩子， 让他们曾广见闻。让与我们同住一年的婆婆去泗里街他女儿的家暂住（后来这暂住衍生了几许的事端）。 去年把心一狠，再一次的远游中国杭州。多少的指责，多少的不满，我都已承受，不在乎别人再多的指手划脚。我出门是自费，没有向你们要一分钱，何须心不甘情不愿？这一次刚好婆婆在美里，省却了安顿他。 我们心理准备，旅游回来，面对的是另一轮的不快。只是我们会坦然以对，不会跟他那般见识。最多，我们今年再出门， 越去越远，怎奈我何？出乎意料之外，回来，却没有面对难看的面孔。也好。不然今年的目标应该是纽西兰吧！ 续去年十二月杭州之行后，我们这一次把小儿子跟婆婆留在家里，驾车去美里一趟，顺便把孩子带回来，一半也是去兜兜风。 回想正月婆婆从美里过来时，一直说是大伯叫他来的。我不知大伯是怎么跟他说的，还是婆婆信口雌黄， 外人不得而知。我们这一次小心翼翼，以免落人口实。当我们告知婆婆要去美里时，果然不出我们所料，他以为我们叫他跟着回美里。我们告诉他他可以留在诗巫跟小儿子一起三天，三天后我们又回来了。还好，我们已经想好怎么做了，不然又要被怪罪赶她回美里了。想信大伯也是如此问他，他就认为是赶她来诗巫了。 照顾孩子容易，照顾婆婆难了！！

Hubby and I are interested in planting some vegetables and grow some traditional medicine when mood is up to do so. The vegetables are for self consumption at times and the traditional medicine are taken frequently to build up body resistance. This plant is good for cleaning the toxic waste products especially in the liver. This plant is good for injury, pain in the muscles etc. My mum in law suffered from joint pain at the ankle. After she bandaged this plant over the ankle, she was healed. This plant is yet to b known as I brought it back from my friend's garden in Kuching. The lemon tree in my garden. Usually we will get a lot of harvest at times. This is my long term and regular food. I will blend 2 lemons with a green apple and a little water. 2 glasses of the product plus a little honey are ready for consumption. My lemon tree from a further view Kucai with some kangkong in the middle Spring onion and wild ginseng both are edible This is used for cooking ...

It is a tradition for the chinese to celebrate May Festival. Practically, every family will come up with rice dumplings which are symbolic for the festival. I am ashamed to say that I have no skill in making rice dumplings which my sisters are able to do so. Every year, I will just buy a few to be taken. My sister from Brunei called me and informed me that she is in Miri and she brought some rice dumplings for my boy. A lot of thanks to her as she is really hardworking despite of her frozen shoulder. Some more, she took the trouble to bring those to Miri. I am even more astonished when my young colleague visited me and brought me some dumplings also. She is great and capable! It is rare to find people who can still carry on the skill of making dumplings at her age (below 30). I think one of these days, I would like to learn again. Malu........ Immediately, we took one each and these are the left over. It s nice. Yum...yum... Thank you very much for the dumplings....

I have no children applying for this scholarship this year. It is none of my business whatsoever outcome it is. However, I closely followed the news in Malaysia Kini. One of the headlines attracted my attention last night. It was announced that due to economic recession, JPA is giving out 1500 scolarships this year to the top scholars of SPM 2009. There are 214 students scoring full A+ and were supposed to be given one of the government scholarships. According to the sources, national scholarships are given to the top 30. However, what happened to the others? Why does the Government not give to the rest of 214 students? In fact I was just wondering why my children's Alma Mater which registered a number of 30 JPA scholarship holders in the past has only 7 recipients this year. The students' results are still as excellent as the past years!! This incidental event revealed the injustice of the people/department concerned which is going to ruin the harmony of the country. The...

我不相信算命，压根儿不想去算命。可是妈妈却非常相信，他说他不得不相信。经过了几十年的岁月，当年算命先生的评语早已忘得一干二净，这一次算命先生的话却勾起了他久已失去的记忆。 据他说三十年前，他在诗巫某件店前，以两块钱，给一个算命先生算命。算命先生说他69岁那一年有难，恐怕过不了那一关。然后他送给妈妈八个字：危马过桥，能过再评。妈妈拿了那些字，起初收藏着，后来也不知所踪，也就忘记了这回事。 直到最近，在朋友的怂恿下，又来诗巫拜访另一个算命先生， 让他勾起了以前算命的那八个字。妈妈让那个算命先生自己滔滔不绝，而他自己没有给与任何意见，一直洗耳恭听。算命先生所讲的句句都准确， 妈妈惊讶的不得了。 算命先生所讲的重点如下： - 先苦后甜，一生都为家庭奔波，精打细算 - 有子女6人，个个都能独当一面，都会给他一些零用钱。可是即使子女都不给零用钱，妈妈自己根本无缺。 - 两年前（69岁）遇大难。大难不死，必有后福。（註：妈妈当时一颗脊锤骨自动裂开，不能动弹一个月，那种摧心之痛， 不是旁人能够理解。当时千头万绪，非常失望。） - 过了69，算命先生说，可喜可贺，80后再讲吧！ 爸爸是一个幸运之人，一生都过得轻松逍遥。妈妈却一直精打细算，企图利用那有限的收入，来挑起一整家的开销。 捉襟见副， 实在难为了他！ 还好，苦尽甘来，如今应该要好好享受人生。只是爸爸生病了。 我们还是需要妈妈在侧。 夫妻几十年，千言万语，多少的怨恨，只能让他随风逝！好在妈妈胸襟广阔， 有很大的海量，容纳了所有能或不能用言语来形容的事情。

I sent my dear hubby to his office early in the morning (He is supposed to travel to Mukah and Dalat to study a major project before implementing it as state election is coming). An hour later, I sent my boy to have his computerised law test which he was not able to take as his name is still unregistered. All of a sudden, I wanted to try cooking curry chicken in my own way. The reason to do so is of course it is inconvenient for me to cook anything with only one hand! I started with preparing everything and mixing everything before I switched on the flame. Does it look cooked also? Curry chicken is cooked! It also has a fragrant smell and it not only looks perfectly ok, it also tastes good! Miraculously, it turned out to be yum..yum...... also. Finally I folded in some curry leaves(taught by Ustazah) hehe....... Then I prepared nasi pulut (Ustazah's way), easy and fast and also nice. The shortcut way of cooking curry chicken and steaming nasi pulut bersantan, my way....

10MP: 10 main premises First : Internally driven, externally aware Second : Leveraging on our diversity internationally Third : Transforming to a high-income nation through specialisation Fourth : Unleashing productivity-led growth and innovation Fifth : Nurturing, attracting and retaining top talent Sixth : Ensuring equality of opportunities and safeguarding the vulnerable Seventh: Concentrated growth, inclusive development Eighth : Supporting effective and smart partnerships Ninth : Valuing our environmental endowments Tenth : Government as a competitive corporation 10MP-Five Strategic Thrusts First: Designing government philosophy and approach to transform Malaysia using NKRA methodology Second: Creating a conducive environment for unleashing economic growth Third: Moving towards inclusive socio-economic development Fourth: Developing and retaining a first-world talent base and Fifth: Building an environment that enhances quality of life Focus on 12 national ke...

Our 2nd Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak , drew up New Economic Policy (DEB) since 1970 immediately after the 513 event on the racial crisis, with the main agenda to relieve poverty and to set a 30% share as the target for bumiputra in the government wealth. The target is 20 years until 1990. However, the policy continues until today, after 40 years of effort, to find that the target is not met(According to the government statistics). Well, statistics can be manipulated and it depends how the statistics is generated. After the 8th and 9th Malaysia Plan, our Government has made great efforts to build First Class facilities followed by tons of investment in human resources to boost human capital. Promotion on Malaysia to become a hub for higher learning institution is in action but I doubt the qualities of our IPTA. Our PM , Datuk Seri Najib, came up with New Economic Model(NEM) to change course for the country to be prosperous. He has no choice but to do so because we are entering an e...

No man is perfect. One-man show is no deal. Teamwork is essential in any organisation or committee, especially knowledge-based industry in the 21st century where we are living now . The way God makes every human different is wonderful. It is this difference which enables projects of large scale to exist. Our capability is limited. Bits and pieces of effort in a deal is just like a jigsaw puzzle. Every contribution from everybody, be it the manager, the leader or the subordinates, counts. Each personnel in an organisation is useful in his own way. If everybody can do his own part well, mission can be accomplished in a beautiful manner in the time frame allocated. Of course, we still need to give some allowance for some workers due to unforeseen circumstances. In work, I strictly follow my principle. I am never late for any function, meeting, or classes. I am particular about due date and I make sure that I know how to put first things first (2nd pillar of how to be an effective peo...

I always salute and respect Ustazah for her energetic move to cook varieties of delicacies whether it is in the form of kuih or mee, oe mee hoon or tradtional Malay dishes on curry, laksa. mee Jawa ..... just to name a few here. She is definitely the best person to be in the food comittee in any function, be it big or small. She is very humble and always tells me that she has to do it to cut cost on the everyday expenditure on food as she has a big family. True also. Anyway, to me, everything she cooks is a wonder. I am thinking if I can produce just 5% of what she cooks, it is already an accomplishment to me. I am delighted since this year, I imitate or I should say I learn the simplest kuih which Ustazah has shared with me and it turned out alright. My son is so happy that I really make the cucur because I always make empty promises to him.                        ...

Sis called after she brought Dad to see the oncologist, 2nd follow-up appointment after the 1st one in Dec last year for his post-operational diagnosis. We were all the time hoping for the best but we really can't escape from the reality. The growth is increasing in its size. It is double the size since last treatment. Dad told the oncologist that it is painful and it is more painful when he coughed, which he never mentioned to us whenever we asked him about his health. Sigh! Sis, as a professional specialist in medical field, has made an appropriate decision immediately, to continue applying 2nd line chemotherapy to Dad rather than letting the size increase infinitely. Dad, be brave and be ready to accept another round of chemotherapy which may be quite unbearable. However it is the best solution to shrink the growth anyway. Sis said she had seen growth which is worse, shrink until an insignificant size after 2nd line chemotherapy, which we are all praying that it is going to happ...

What is wrong with me? The day seems to be still gloomy. I haven't recovered from the shock that was experienced. The unexpected reaction hurts me. I know I should not take it serious but I just can't help thinking otherwise. Other than one man's sweet can be another man's poison, I should say tactics in normal conversation is a double-sided sword. Same answer accompanied by different intonation, different gestures, different situations and various body languages will have different meaning and will have different impact on different individuals. Furthermore, who is the person who says it also makes a difference. Recently luck is out of my way. A lot of things seem not to occur according to my wish. I am disappointed but other than accepting the facts, what can I do? I am just a human who is gradually having the symptoms of old age. I tend to make mistakes and I tend to speak wrong words. I may be a little more deaf and I am sure I am more forgetful. Seriously, I start ...

It is exactly a year since Dad has his fatal operation. It was a miracle when Dad could tolerate the chemotherapy very well. He looked perfectly ok during the process with his health secured snd his hair intact. There is no sign of hair drop and wonderfully, he still has his original black hair at the age of mid- seventies!! The last appointment with the oncologist was in Dec 2009. All of us were told and informed that the fatal growth could not be removed totally as it is a Duke C tumour. We have only two choice on either we let him go for second cycle of chemotherapy or we let him enjoy the quality in life. After all, it doesn't make a lot of difference in the length of prolonged life. Going for second chemotherapy means a lot sufferings due to discomfort, loss of weight, no appetite and vomitting.......... Worse still, there is a possibility of earlier termination. There are suicidal cases before the cycle ends as suicide is a better solution than to suffer the sufferings caused...

I was busy with my PTK exam and thus I gave myself a break from making the skirting of the staff room. Everything is over now and I felt like looking over my photo files in my pc and I found these few photos taken from the staff room diring our Teachers' Day. The whole row of pink skirting is made by me, the so called tailor, by my colleague. (except the two skirtings with slightly different pink) Another view of the staff room. The first green skirting is my product again. The furthest office desk is mine and the one in front belongs to GK Kemanusiaan. At the back are all the files kept in order using different colours to differentiate different departments.