Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Development

After almost two months, kc and I finally were able to climb Kepayang Hill last Sunday. What a shock we had  when we reached the entrance to the hill....the whole stretch at the bottom of the hill has been cleared.
Whenever we get off the road into the path our first reaction is it is so cool. Now we have to use the umbrella all the way till we reach the shades of the tree.. 
I wonder if the hill will still be here for us to climb in ten years time. We were hoping to make this our regular exercise route when we retire. Think we have to look for another hill close by to climb soon. 
Not only has man destroyed the hill....nature itself has leashed its fury on the trees. Here is one tree which was standing two months ago but now fallen. Must be one of the storms recently. Over the years the hill has gotten thinner and thinner. 

Looking at all the changes to nature around us, I think that one day Earth may end up like Krypton. 

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Confessions

Much hu ha in school this week over the school confession page on Facebook. I saw the page quite a while ago but didn't bother to check it out as it would be gossips etc and I just don't have time for such things. 

Anyway while the girls were reprimanded on Monday, I quietly sat behind and started reading the confessions. Wow.....

It was quite ok at first. I thought there was a lot of reminiscing like sitting around the longkang....birds chirping only during Mr Madhavan's class etc. 

When I reached the earlier posts, found them to be quite bitchy. It was more like a hate page....lashing out at teachers personally. One teacher was called a witch. Think there was a Rapunzel (I didn't see that) and a hamburger somewhere. It hurts a lot to be called names and to be mentioned in such an angry and hateful tone. Maybe somewhere in time some of these teachers have offended the students one way or other (who has not offended any soul before....must be a saint or out of this world)....but do they deserve public declaration of how bad they had been? Were they that bad that it is unforgivable?

The page is abused whenever a teacher is personally condemned. It is not a confession then. I am sure the purpose of the page is noble...if used in its exact context; confession. Infact I found many many uplifting comments, jokes, reminisces, reflections and yes...interesting confessions. It would have been so nice if we have all kept to the original intent...and not abuse the page. 

Kindness is in shortage today. I used to tell the students to rub some kindness around. I don't feel very kind nowadays. What has happened to society? What is freedom of speech when the speech creates anger, unhappiness, ugliness? 

Here is another proof of the failure of our education system. 


Nasi Lemak

Today is sports day. Held at Stadium Paroi as usual. This year I was given the task of herding the students up the busses to and for the stadium. 

Herding....yes. I felt like a cowherd. Busses were waiting outside the gate. I told the girls to cross the road and get on the bus. I turned back and found I was the only one crossing the road. I walked back and shouted at them to get moving. Most girls were taller than me as I wasn't wearing heels. They just look at me poker faced. 

They were too busy selecting busses and waiting for friends to arrive so that they can get on the same bus. 

Anyway after that awful task, Zu, Has and I went off to the stadium and stopped for breakfast at Gerai Pak Ali at the stadium. It serves all kinds of noodles, roti canai and Nasi Lemak. The Nasi Lemak comes with dishes of your choice like chicken rendang, clam sambal, clam rendang, squid sambal etc etc. Zu says the Nasi is great. My knees went jelly when I saw the clams and squids. But can't be greedy. So I had clam rendang Nasi Lemak. Fantastic. One of the best Nasi Lemak I've ever tasted for the price of RM4.50. Even the teh O kurang manis is nice....doesn't taste like drain water. 
At the end of the sports event we had to herd the students up the bus again. A different experience this time. As the weather was hot the girls stopped to buy drinks. As the bus drivers were rushing back to ferry their own regular passengers back from school,some didn't even wait for the bus to be totally full. Despite all our shoutings,  we were ignored. The girls dallied along and finally the last two busses were jam packed. Serves them right for expecting the bus to be there for them till they are ready to leave. 

Anyway....thank God for the Nasi Lemak. Gave me the strength to do my work today as a cowherd.