UPDATE 4 MINIT

 

Solid advice.

the patung says ... QUALITATIVELY SUPERIOR ARE THEY?

 These are not the refugees we are used to... These people are Europeans. These people are intelligent, they are educated people... This is not the refugee wave we have been used to, people we were not sure about their identity, people with unclear pasts, who could have been even terrorists ...

Bulgarian Prime Minister, Kirril Petkov

These are prosperous, middle class people. These are not obviously refugees trying to get away from areas in the Middle East ... in North Africa. They look like any European family that you would live next door to ... 

Al Jazeera English, Television presenter

This isn't a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan that has seen conflict raging for decades. This is a relatively civilised, relatively European - I have to choose those words carefully too - city where you wouldn't expect that, or hope it's going to happen.

Charlie D'Agata, CBS News senior correspondent

[Ukranian refugees] are prosperous, middle class people. These are obviously not refugees trying to get away from areas in the Middle East that are still in a big state of war.These are not people trying to get away from areas in North Africa. They look like any European family that you would live next door to.

Peter Dobbie, Al Jazeera English, anchor

Some European commentators on Western Media have described Ukrainian refugees as being 'civilised', 'middle-class' and 'prosperous' and different from those from 'third world nations'.

the conversation.com

and if that's not enough, 

The New York Times reported that non-white people fleeing Ukraine were being blocked from leaving, in favour of white Ukrainians.

Wow. The blatant doubIe standard and racism makes me sick. 

I don't mean to be negative, but 

WTF!!!!!!!!!!

I feel for refugees from Asia and Africa, I really do.

This makes it very difficult for me to feel any sympathy for Ukrainians.

 

REFERENCES:

https://theconversation.com/ukrainian-refugees-are-welcomed-with-open-arms-not-so-with-people-fleeing-other-war-torn-countries-178491

https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/europe-welcomes-ukrainian-refugees-others-less-so/

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/why-are-some-refugees-more-welcome-than-others/

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2022/03/17/europe-throws-open-its-doors-for-ukrainians-for-afghans-and-other-refugees-its-detention-and-even-beatings.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/14/world/europe/ukraine-refugees-poland-belarus.html

 

 

 

THE BOOK OF LIFE ... chapter 55

 Salam and good day. 

55 today. Thank you Allah.

What can I say. It's been a long weary year. Covid is still lingering in the air and things are only halfway back to normal. Not sure whether we will be able to get back to pre-covid normal. A lot of people are taking the current situation as the new normal. 

Well, new or old, I can't wait to retire... on this day next year, I will be free... for now... let's hope for a miracle...

photo from Pinterest

Queen - The Miracle

 courtesy of youtube

ON A RAINY JANUARY MORNING

 

NO ONE BUT YOU...the patung says

WHY DO I STILL CRY WHEN I WATCH THIS VIDEO?

Queen - No One But You

the patung says... BRING IT ON

Salam and good day,

We are fast approaching the end of June,  which means we are now halfway into 2019. In 6 months, it will be 2020, a whole new decade.

So far, 2019 has been an eventful and challenging year for me, physically, mentally and emotionally. How so? Well, that's for me to know, but not for you to find out...lol

Here's a quote for motivation:

So true, Mr Gibran.

I have 3 things to say before venturing into the last 6 months of this decade

If I made you happy ... I'm glad 
If I made you cry ... so sorry
If I made no difference to you ... tough luck

and for the rest of this decade... 3 words... BRING  IT  ON!!!!!!!

there's just too much that time cannot erase
ps: still feeling crappy

Have a nice day.

3MT - SLIDE ... dos and don'ts

 

We had a workshop for our 3 minute thesis participants yesterday. My slot was on how to come up with a single static slide for the presentation. I'm putting my notes here for safekeeping... LOL 

DO NOT ...

1. use text and complicated graphics
2. rely 100% on your slide to convey your message
3. use bullet points

DO ...

1. use a single readable sentence that the audience can refer to if they get a bit lost
2. choose one 'hero' image or diagram
3. add some personal touches
4. use visuals that appeal to our senses 

•  The title can be in the form of a question or the actual title of your research.
• Try to use a metaphor or an analogy that can help explain your research
• your slide should create a deeper understanding of what you are talking about.
• keep it simple - your slide should be CLEAR, LEGIBLE, CONCISE.  in other words ... 

LESS IS MORE 

THREE LETTERS FROM TEDDY

Salam and good day,

This story was introduced to me by my friend who was the Assistant Principal way back when I was still teaching in secondary school. It is an inspiring and heart-warming tale of teacher and student. It teaches me of the true meaning of teaching. Since yesterday was Teachers' Day, I am compelled to share this with you. enjoy!

HAPPY TEACHERS' DAY 

TO ALL TEACHERS 

FROM PRE-SCHOOLS TO HIGH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.

BLOODLINE... bukan sekadar penyambung warisan

Salam and good day.

                                 

 Inilah cucu-cucu saya. Kanak-kanak generasi Z...atau the screen generation. 
Ibubapa mereka dari generasi Y... dan nenek mereka generasi X... Lol.                 

Darah saya mengalir dalam tubuh mereka, dan semoga akan terus mengalir didalam tubuh anak2 serta cucu2 mereka... Dari gen Z ke gen Alpha dan seterusnya.                             

Kerana mereka bukan sekadar penyambung warisan....           Kerana bertahun dari sekarang...Mereka adalah bukti yang saya pernah hidup didunia ini.                  

THE FLIP SIDE

Salam and good day.                                 Saya bukan tiap hari masuk ke fb. Kali terakhir saya menjengok fb saya... dua hari lepas... Ada beberapa orang yang post berita ini... http://www.kedahnews.com/2016/09/gadis-kedah-bakal-doktor-dihina-kerja.html?m=1.                                       Kerana sudah beberapa kali saya terserempak dengan berita ini... Saya akhirnya membaca berita itu.                         Kisah seorang graduan bakal doktor bekerja di kedai buku sementara menunggu posting, dihina boleh seorang pelanggan. Memang tidak patut berlaku.                                           Cuma... Saya terfikir... Andainya yang dihina itu bukan graduan bakal doktor. Andainya yang dihina itu cuma seorang pemegang sijil SPM atau lebih rendah dari itu, apakah ada yang akan peduli?                                  

HUJAN DI PENGHUJUNG MUSIM

Hujan yang turun di penghujung musim panas ...
Ibarat munculnya sahabat lama yang tanpa sedar sentiasa aku rindui                              

the patung says... YO.. HO... LET'S GO......

Salam and good day.                             

 We had a workshop yesterday to introduce us to the MOOC which stands for Massive Online Open Course. Basically, it is a platform for online learning community instead of just an online course... Community being the operative word here.  So... Yes... We have to come out with a module to fit into the MOOC framework.                                                

 Anyway... I got as far as creating a profile page ... Well... Its a start... 

               

     and this is my slightly exaggerated initial reaction... LOL

 Feels like I'm walking the plank on a pirate ship.  Diving into the dark and turbulent water.Think I will survive? Depends on how I hit the water doesn't it? 

 

 But... For now... I shall say...  

 YO HO... LET'S GO.... 

                          

Sing all together now.... Captain Jake and the Neverland pirates...  ...                        

I will write more about this MOOC thing when I feel a bit more sane... :-D

WIND CHIMES

The sound of wind chimes on a hot windy day....                                                   ibarat bisikan sang kekasih diwaktu malam sunyi...               

the patung says... I AM A GURU BAHASA

Salam and good day.

We meet again. this month is a bit hectic... even though it is our three months semester break... most of us Guru Bahasa (Language Teachers)... not lecturers... big difference there... anyway... Guru Bahasa have to teach semester 0... which started as soon as the term ended. so... no break for us...

On top of that... most of us are also involved in developing the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) module, Get Into Grammar programme etc. why is it always the same bunch of people ie; language teachers that are asked to do all the work... where are the lecturers? They have 3 months of free time since they do not have to teach semester 0... so... what are they doing? why aren't they involved in all the programmes? why is it always us Language Teachers.

Is it because they are lecturers and I am a Guru Bahasa? Lecturers do not teach diploma students because their qualifications are higher than a guru bahasa? seriously?  I can accept that, if all lecturers are Phd holders, but most of them are not... the have a masters degree... well ... so do I... the only difference is that they are lecturers... they have less teaching hours to give room for them to do research... so they say... therefore... less teaching hours and more pay... whereas a guru bahasa gets more ( a lot more) teaching hours... and still they want us to do reasearch...  most guru bahasa have around 14 - 20 teaching hours per semester... and we are also subject coordinators, we have to handle projects like... Reading Circle Programme, GIG Programme and a few others which I cant remember. If all these are done by Guru Bahasa... why do we need to have lecturers? They don't do anything anyway.

I dont mind the teaching load... I am a Guru Bahasa after all... we are supposed to have more teaching time than lecturers... and more teaching hours means less time to do research. which is fair... because.. I love teaching... but I do not like to do research.... and doing research for the sake of fulfilling our KPI? ... no quality?... just quantity?

Hence,  now... ... there is really no difference between a Guru Bahasa and a lecturer... we are forced to do research, have publications, become subject coordinators, project leaders... whereas some lecturers are not even subject coordinators... not involved in research... still they have less teaching hours and more pay.

Like I said, I love teaching... that is why I became a language teacher. If I wanted to do research, I would have become a researcher instead. So there!

IN AN OPEN .... what?

Haha...

A funny thing about relationship status in facebook .. there's 'married', 'single', 'engaged', 'in a relationship', 'in an open relatioship' etc. The rest all speak for themselves... but  'in a relationship' and 'in an open relationship'... what is that all about?

Either you're in a relationship, or you're not ... what on earth is an 'open relationship'? A relationship, whether its close or open, is still a relationship, is it not? 

So, what is an open relationship, exactly? Does it mean that you're in a relationship with sombody, but if someone better comes along... that somebody is history? Wow. ...  Anyway... even that is still 'in a relationship', not a fair one, but still a relationship. Well, just a thought on this rainy night.

ps: If anybody puts his status as    ' in an open relationship with patungcendana',  I would rearrange his FACE ... err...book... hehe

SANGKAR

rela aku didalam sangkar

bersama sang burung

dari mengimpikan agar aku dikurniakan sayap.

THE PATUNG SAYS...

dia ini memang terbaik....

sebabnya?

sila ke sini...

tengok sampai habis ya

thepatung says...

;

;

kita ditentukan untuk hidup berpasangan

dan

sewaktu mereka bersama pasangan masing2

aku

sendirian

ditengah2 lautan manusia

;

;

aku...cest la vie...:-)

thepatung says...

hendak pergi berotan

jangan takut onaknya

life is full of challenges

its up to you to accept it

if anyone tells you

its going to be easy

they're lying

thepatung says...

masa tidak memadamkan kenangan

manusia yang memadamkan kenangan

manusia juga yang memadamkan manusia lain

life's too short for misguided heroics