Think and Reflect

Sometimes we have to sit silent for a while and put everything into perspective.



Have a good weekend everybody!

I want to swear but I promised not to.

This morning I had breakfast with a few male colleagues. We were sitting together at a table when this person approached us to greet everyone. Except me. Because he doesn't want to look at me in the eye. Dia seorang yang alim. He cannot even acknowledge my presence.

Then a few hours after that I met a group of lecturers to discuss something. This person was also there. So all of us chatted amicably and as usual they would tease me about my marital status and ask me when they can finally makan nasi minyak. And as usual I would always give the customary crap excuse of either a) Anuar Zain tidak membalas cinta saya or b) saya terlalu tinggi untuk semua jejaka-jejaka Malaysia. And suddenly this person who didn't even want to look at me during breakfast said to me, "Alah, kalau kita dah berbaring sama tu, apa kisahnya. Dalam bilik tidur lain cerita."

Eh, tadi nak tengok atau bagi salam pada saya pun tak nak sebab saya seorang perempuan. But now you give me this kind of lewd joke?

Dude, the only time I will berbaring sama with you is when by stroke of misfortune, our lot tanah perkuburan is side by side.

Dia belum tau siapa aku!

Kau ni Mek Jo, kalau nak setaraf dengan Diva Ana tu kena la bergaya sikit, kata Rina gadis syampu di salun rambut kepunyaan Cikgu Yati. Tuala-tuala kecil yang dibawa naik sebunjut dari kedai dobi bawah itu sebentar tadi dikeluarkan satu-persatu. Ish ish ish kena lipat balik semuanya. Inilah susahnya ambil pekerja asing. Buat kerja sambil lewa, dengus Rina di dalam hati.

Eh? Apa kurangnya aku ni Rina? Mek Jo membelek diri di cermin. Terus dikeluarkan bedak kompak dari dalam beg tangan jenama LV tiruannya dan di sapukan rata ke mukanya yang pucat lesi. Tacap kata orang putih.

Ya memang kau OK. Untuk nak ngurat Wak Yono tukang kebun rumah penghulu tu boleh la.

Hei tolong sikit ya. Aku ni Rina, walaupun dah nak masuk 40 tahun, masih boleh pakai lagi tau. Aku ni ibarat kata orang macam kereta Jepun lah. Resale value tinggi! Kalau setakat dengan si Ana tu alahai apa sangat lah. Sekali aku jentikkan aje.

Disemburkannya sedikit lagi spray rambut ke sanggulnya yang telah di dandan rapi oleh Rina gadis syampu kesayangannya. Tiada orang lain yang dapat membelai rambutnya sebaik Rina. Kadang-kadang sampai rasa nak tidur pun ada.

OK lah, aku nak balik dulu. Nak siap-siap pakai baju. Nak mekap lagi. Kau dengar sini Rina. Dia belum tau siapa aku. Malam ni bila Datuk Shahril tengok aku pakai kebaya ketat, dengan sanggul tinggi, gincu warna merah hati, aku gerenti dia tak akan pandang orang lain. Kau tengoklah nanti. Siapa si Diva Ana tu nak lawan dengan aku? Cakap Inggeris pun masih I is I is lagi ada hati nak berlagak. Hmmph!

Suka hati kau lah Mek Jo. Hah itu pun adik kau dah sampai. Hai, naik moto pulak hari ni? Kereta masuk bengkel ke?

Assalamualaikum Kak Rina. Dah siap bersalun ke kakak saya tu? sapa Azmin lembut di muka pintu kedai.

Eh Min! Yang kau bawak moto ni apahal?
Ha, kenapa?
Aku ni dah set rambut buat sanggul tinggi!
Habis tu? Apa masalahnya Kak Ngah?

Mana muatnya helmet ni ha!

Hari ini ada kelas pagi

Today I woke up with a heavy head. And with this fuzziness inside my mind. Almost as if I had nothing but cotton in the place of brains. I sat on my bed for awhile, trying to figure out the time of day (and what day it was). Then I remembered, "Oh, hari ni ada kelas pagi."

For breakfast I had one chicken sausage and two slices of bread. I took out the butter from the fridge and grabbed the bottle of tomato sauce from the kitchen cabinet counter (saya tak makan pedas). The bread tasted like cardboard. The sausage was chewy. Nescafe panas je OK dan tidak pernah menghampakan. I cleared my plate and took the dishes to the sink and put away the butter and the ketchup. As I was looking for my keys to leave the house, a thought sneaked through my blurry mind, "Uh-oh. I think I might have put the butter in the sink as well."

Then just now, when I reached my workplace, I took out my staff card from the glove compartment of the car and clocked in. But the machine just wouldn't beep. Second try. Nothing. Third try. Still no beep. "Hmmm...asyik rosak je mesin ni sejak akhir-akhir ni. Maybe it needs a lightning surge protector or something."

Someone knocked at the car window, at the passenger seat.
"Kak, kat mesin tu kena guna kad ID staff. Kad Touch n Go guna kat toll." the security guard told me.

And all I could think was "Oh, hari ni ada kelas pagi."

Bring back the good old Geography!

When I was a student in France, I had a tough time trying to explain to my French friends where Malaysia was. Nobody seemed to know much about our country. So the easiest way was asking them if they knew where Thailand and Singapore were. They said yes. And I would just say that our country was in between.

Nowadays sometimes in class I have problems explaining to the students where France is situated in Europe. So again I use the same method. Ask them first if they know where the UK and Spain are located in the world map. And then say that France is in between. Before showing them the world map, of course.

I wish they would bring back Geography to all the Form 4 and 5 students. My students say the subject is now an option to them in Higher Secondary level. With the current trend of globalization, I feel that it is very important for the students to be introduced to Human Geography as well. Learn about what is happening around the world; have a little grasp on the human, social, cultural, political and economic aspects of this discipline.

Let Physical Geography be taught in Lower Secondary. That will be the time the students will learn about the natural environment and how the climate, vegetation and life, soil, water and landforms are produced and interact. Then continue with an introduction to Human Geography in Form 4 and 5. This is the branch of Geography that focuses on the on the study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction with various environments. The two branches are inter-linked. It is not possible to learn the latter without knowledge of the former.

It is not about making them experts in Geography. It's about opening their minds a little to what is happening around the globe. Let them see how we are all so intricately linked to one another in space and time no matter where we are in this world. They do not have to leave the classroom to get a taste of all this adventure.

Or perhaps I have this recurring problem with my students simply as a punishment for not doing properly the work that my Geography teacher gave us in class. She would scold us when we didn't trace out the map according to scale.

"Nurhayati, kenapa peta Semenanjung Malaysia awak ni macam karipap?"

God bless you, Puan Muhaimu!