MASSIVE CLEAN-UP

NOW YOU SEE IT NOW YOU DON'T


Reminders...reminders...like hanging a laundry

 

Before the extreme make over

 


After make over




Files all in order



More space to place worksheets



My conducive workstation




Teacher's Day Tea Session with the President of Spore




Flowers add colours to brighten the table



Family photos as a source of inspiration

Name hand engraved on teak wood

Awards and accolades

 



















A NEW LOOK
Did a major clean-up at my work station before school reopens. Unwanted files, papers, stationery and miscellaneous items parted ways with me. Some were thrown or recycled reluctantly while others received the same fate without me giving them a second thought.  

From a ‘junkyard corner’, now my place can earn the label as one of the tidiest areas in the staff room. I must give myself a pat on the back for the discipline and perseverance I had kept for this huge transformation. Just compare the before and the after pictures of my place to imagine how much has been cleared and removed.  

Now I must steel myself to keep the place as it is for the rest of the year.

THE GOLDEN MOMENT

Gold, gold and gold everywhere
See this solid piece of metal
Me and my haul of gold for the boys

CHERISH THE GOLD

Our Takraw boys did us proud by becoming the champions in our zone and emerging runners-up in the national zone. They played their heart out to be at the tops. Congrats boys!

The efforts from Fahmy, Zainal and Umaizy have paid off.

AERO-SPACE, SOCIO-CULTURAL & LANG TRIP

TRIP OF THE YEAR

A mega-department Internationalisation Programme overseas trip was conducted by the Humanities, Science and the Mother Tongue CL Departments from 2nd -8th June 2010. The trip provided the 32 students an overseas exposure to deepen students’ knowledge and understanding of China’s Modern Technology, History, Culture and Geography through this cultural immersion trip. The meaningful and rich-learning trip formed an integral part of the educational experience of our students for them to develop a global mindset and cultural awareness. At the same time, in line with the school’s vision of ‘Quality Minds, Caring Hearts’, the programmes and planned itinerary were specially designed to create a holistic internationalisation experience for our students and to launch them on a personal life-changing journey, combining academia with a school visit. The six-day trip covered a two-day visit to Shanghai Gold Apple Bilingual School where students were immersed on space-rocket technology and aerospace studies and classroom observations for Chinese, Science, History and English lessons. The students had a hand in making and launching their rockets as part of the highlights of the school visit. In addition, the Maglev train ride which whooshed by at a speed of 301km/h put their physics learning to test. The socio-cultural aspects of the trip saw the students traversing 5000 years of Chinese Civilization and understanding what makes the Chinese society and culture at the Shanghai Museum. They experienced and marvelled at ancient Jiangnan Mansion design and exquisite garden architecture at Yuyuan Garden Chenghuang Temple and the Seven Treasures Ancient Town. The Bund, the boat cruise along Huangpu River and the night scene at the River Promenade got the students to view the world-famous piers of Shanghai and appreciate the foot prints left by its colonial leaders. With Shanghai expanding rapidly, the study on the concept behind designing Shanghai Metropolis at Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center was an eye-opener for our students. A learning journey to Chongming Island, Dongtan Eco-city with its cultural sediment of over 1300 years of history, natural landscape and artistic inspiration awed our students and let them see the importance of having an eco- balanced environment. The trip culminated with a visit to the Shanghai World Expositions where we got to visit the Singapore Pavilion and our twinning YOG country, Slovakia.

NATIONAL DAY CELEBRATIONS AT YSS

I am so proud of my ex-student Nor Hakim who was awarded a law scholarship to study in a UK university. Great Hakim!

Felicia with me

I attended Felicia's graduation ceremony before she gave birth in March

A picture of diversity in a multi-racial Singapore

Aunty Gwen, Ms Lathika and Nor Hakim

August babies birthday celebration on the stage

Getting a slice of the rich chocolate cake

Ms Lathika is an August Baby

Sharukh received a movie pass as an August baby

Zhiyu too got a movie pass to unwind after the prelims

Surrounded by my students when they saw me in the hall

Former students whom I taught in previous years

A surprise visit from a former colleague

Sheera - a very lovely and sweet girl

You better give me good grades in CH boys!

The parent support group sold Nasi Briyani

The prefects sold cupcakes. Delicious!

Mr Raju's class sold second hand books

With friends whom I miss because of the attachment

Cheese girls and chill out as all had ended well

Great show girls for the 'Don't Forget The Lyrics'

SEA OF RED AND WHITE

I am now at Teachers Network for my ST attachment. It is for a term and I'm truly enjoying my stint there. It has been an enriching journey and I look forward to my days at TN daily. There are always new things to learn; be it from the school visits, the workshops and symposiums we attend or simply from the sharing we have with the officers and the six senior teachers who are with me. I will hopefully write on my experience on this attachment in another blog entry.

Since MOE headquarters had to scale down the National Day Celebrations and the number of participants, we were given permission to join our respective school for the celebrations. I dressed in my red and white attire and reported to school by 7.20am. Met my students and colleagues and joined in the fun for the day - the celebrations as well as the Enterprise Day programme where students became entrepreneurs for the day and sold stuff to help schoolmates. Part of the profits from the sale would go into the needy students' kitty fund. There was also the students vs the staff 'Don't Forget The Lyrics Competition'. Quite innovative and refreshing than the usual concert weused to have year after year. The organsing committee also had a birthday cake for the August babies. Old friends dropped by for a visit too! That was so heartwarming.

It was a sea of red and white everywhere in the school on that morning. Glad to be part of this red letter day!

BUNGA MANGGAR MAKING COMPETITION

A group photo to round up the event

The beauty of bunga manggar evokes a celebratory mood

Our principal presenting prizes to the winners

With our vice principal and the teachers involved in the competition

The creative arrangements the students came up with

Dancing to the beat of the kompang

With a group of happy and well-deserving winners

Our principal, the sweetest lady of Kg Bunga Manggar

Rohini looked totally shock when I presented her with a bunch of flowers

Arranging the bunga manggar at the end of a pole

Students hving a go at making bunga manggar

Hidayat engrossed in his bunga manggar

A demonstration at the beginning of the competition

The Bunga Manggar board explains its significance

We prepared our bunga manggar on the eve of the competition

BUNGA MANGGAR AND ULIT MAYANG

Organised an inter class Bunga Manggar Competition for the Sec 4 & 5 students. Each class had to send a team of four, comprising different races and gender. The students came dressed in batik sarung and pelikat. They had to bring their own equipment to earn bonus points while the teachers supplied the basic materials for making the bunga manggar.

We also had a board to explain the significance of bunga manggar to Malay weddings and why they are displayed at the groom's or bride's house.

After a short demonstration on how to make the bunga manggar, the students had to complete their task within 90 minutes. Their finished product had to be decorated and judges assessed their work for creativity, visual impact and the use of unique ornaments for the final touches.

The competition became hilarious when the team had to hunt for their form teacher for a group photo so as to earn more marks.

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An article in The New Straits Time of Malaysia talks about the origins of bunga manggar.

In the old days, the Malays tied bunches of coconut palm blossoms (mayang kelapa) to one end of bamboo poles. Bunches of tiny blossoms on a tall coconut tree are not visible from the ground. Some of the blossoms, when mature, will become coconuts. The blossoms are exquisite in off-white colours and the texture is smooth and medium hard.

It is no wonder that the beauty of the blossom earns it a place at the head of processions especially for weddings and other traditional events. Usually, there will be two bunga manggar bearers leading the procession, followed by a kompang (traditional tambourine) group and others.

In Terengganu, the original bunga manggar is used in the famous traditional dance called ulit mayang (ulit means crooning). Watch the clip below to know more about this song.

Today, perhaps due to the difficulty in getting the original bunga manggar, the Malays have settled for the artificial ones. Though these are less exotic, they still evoke the celebratory mood.

Enjoy this short clip on 'Ulek Mayang'