Past years' questions

This morning I received an sms asking about past year questions. The conversation is as follows:

-Bonjour madame. Can you give me old questions for French?
-You can consult the past years' questions at the resource centre.
-Merci madame. I afraid I get badder marks than my test.
-The comparative for bad is not badder.
-Nak buat apa compare madame?
-Ok. Example: the comparative for big is bigger.
-Oh. Jadi better la ye madame?
-No.

...a few minutes later I received the last sms...

"Takkan bagger kot madame?"

Talking

The other day I was watching the telly when my niece came and sat beside me. After a while she started talking to herself, obviously engrossed in some play-acting. I think she was in a hospital, playing the role of a doctor tending to her patients, because I heard words like "doctor", "headache" and "cucuk". Naya sungguh pi hospital ni. Sakit kepala sikit dah nak kena injek.

And she went on talking and talking and talking. Well one thing I need to tell you guys about my niece is that she is blessed with the gift of the gab. Give her any topic and she can yak for hours. And when she's in her fantasy world, she takes play-acting to another level. Misalan kata la kan, kalau dia berangan jadi cikgu sekolah, she'll make sure she acts out her pupil in another voice. And sometimes in another language. Like the other day I was eavesdropping on her conversation with one of her "pupils", I was surprised to discover that she asked a question in English but her pupil replied in Malay. When I asked her why, she told me that the teacher didn't speak Malay because she came from England. Ambik kau.

Well anyway back to the story. So she was talking to her patient and I interrupted her, asking why she was talking to herself. She said no. I said yes. There was nobody else around us talking to her.

Then she turned to me and said, "Mak Long, I'm not talking to myself. I'm talking to my imaginary friends in my head. If there was nobody in my head while I'm talking, now THAT would be crazy."

Nah. Ambik kau. Sekali lagi.

Macam pernah ku dengar...tapi bila ye?

My mom said I was a very shy girl as a kid. It was (and still is) difficult for me to express certain feelings. Or be direct. Kalau nak sesuatu tu mesti kena konar-konar sikit and my parents would have to conclude themselves what it was that I wanted.

For example:

1) "Hari Ahad zoo bukak tak Ma?" (read: I want to go to the zoo)

2) (as my dad drove past A&W Taman Jaya) "Along lapar la Ma." (read: I want to eat at A&W)

3) "Bestnya kalau dapat tengok binatang batu tu kan Pa?" (read: I want to go to Mimaland)

So yesterday I went to One Utama with my niece untuk menghiburkan hatinya. And take her to Get Crafty for her art n craft fix. After that we had lunch and went to MPH to read and buy some books. Then I suggested we go home since we had done basically everything that we had planned to do.

"Are we going home now?"

"Yes. Kan dah pegi Get Crafty, dah makan, dah beli buku?"

"Aina haus la Mak Long."

"OK nanti sampai rumah kita minum air suam."

"But I'm thirsty now."

*Sigh* "OK. Jom kita pegi beli air mineral botol kecik tu."

Sambil berjalan-jalan mencari kedai yang menjual air mineral...

"Mak Long! Mak Long!"

"Yes?"

"Kita pergi minum air suam kat tempat yang ada jual aiskrim k?"

Hmm...HMMMM.....

P/S: For those of you who are too young to have experienced the joys and excitement of running around in Mimaland, silalah Google Map kot-kot ada lagi.

InTra visit to Balakong

Yesterday I went for an Industrial Visit at Balakong to visit one of my students who is doing his practical training there. At Y&L Metal Components Sdn Bhd in Kawasan Perindustrian Kg Baru Balakong.

At the end of the visit, he took me around the huge factory to see all the machines and different sections, from stamping to wire-cutting. He animatedly told me the history of this company, how it started from just out of a two-storey shoplot thirty years ago by his GM Mr Lee. There were two partners in this company. The GM and the MD.

Oh. So I said to him his GM must be the one making up the L part of the name Y&L Metal Components Sdn Bhd. And I was guessing his MD's name to be Yoong or Yee or Yip or Yap.

"No lah madame. Y&L means Young & Lively."

Huh? Ye ke budak ni. Ke tipu aku? Macam nama syarikat buat tuala wanita je.

New colleague #1

My new colleague turned out to be a very nice guy. Seriously, super nice. He even calls me madame. I feel like the wicked witch beside him with my booming voice and all when I interact with my students when they come to the office for consultation.

And I've never met anyone who really likes research. Dia selalu bercerita yang dia sangat suka bekerja. He is happiest in front of the computer. Cuma sekarang ni bila dah kahwin dia perlu balik awal untuk ambil isteri dari tempat kerjanya. Katanya.

And I was like, "Ooohhh ini motivasi untuk saya menulis kertas akademik ni. He is put right beside me for a reason; Nothing is random in this world. Nothing."

But that feeling lasted for about half an hour.

Yesterday my new colleague's Section Head came to visit and look-see. He introduced this Dr to everyone formally. He told us that Dr would be teaching during the next short semester. Then he asked us to welcome him and make him feel comfortable in his new surrounding.

Secara berseloroh, saya bertanya ketua seksyennya (tapi dengan muka serius), "Since he's new here, can we ask him to make us coffee every morning?"

Ketua seksyen tersebut hanya tersenyum dan berkata, "Up to you la." Dia pun tau saya suka buat lawak walaupun kadang-kadang kemolaran kelakar saya agak rendah sekali.

Then that evening I chatted again with my cubicle neighbor. He was expressing concern about his classes and I gave him whatever advice I could. Then I asked him if how he was getting along working at MFI. He said everything was okay. No problems.

"Yang penting ada respek kan madame? Takde nak buli-buli kan madame?"

Alamak, madame joke-joke je Dr bila cakap pasal buat kopi tu. Takpe-takpe kalau Dr tak nak buat kopi minggu depan madame suruh tiup mentol menyala sampai padam.

P/S: Doc if you're reading this welcome to A004! :)

New colleague

Yesterday the empty cubicle next to mine was occupied with a new staff from the HVAC Section. Katanya seorang pemegang doktor falsafah. So I took the opportunity to ask him more about his previous workplace before he decided to come to MFI.

-Dr dulu kerja kat mana?
-Saya belum bekerja lagi. Saya baru habis belajar.
-Oh! Muda lagi la!
-Saya baru 28 tahun.

Wow. I was so impressed. At such a "tender" age, he has reached one of the big milestones in the world of academia. The courage. The hard work. The discipline. The persistence.

He would have started on his PhD work when he was 25. Me, at that age, I still wasn't sure of what I wanted to do in life. Everything was decided on a daily basis.

And I was still dreaming of dating a rock star.

Industrial Training Supervisor

This morning I called one company here in Bangi to speak to one of my students' Industrial Training supervisors. The number that I dialed got me connected to the receptionist. So I asked for this person.

-Selamat pagi. Boleh saya bercakap dengan Puan Norazmirah?
-Dari department mana ye?
-Saya tak tahu.
-Tak apa. Boleh saya dapatkan nama penuh dia?
-Errr...(looking at the excel file I had in front of me)...Norazmirah bt Abdul Aziz Junior.
-Hmmm...tak ada la Puan. Betul ke nama tu?
-Betul betul. Saya tengah tengok list nama saya ni.

I took the spectacles that I was cleaning, wore them and looked at the list again. At the column where the name was written it said, "Norazmirah bt Abd Aziz, Junior". Then at the line below it said, "Section Leader".

She was the Junior Section Leader.

Moral of the story: I need reading glasses.