Great speech: Adrian Tan on Life and How To Survive It

Great speech: Adrian Tan on Life and How To Survive It

This convo speech by Adrian Tan, a Singapore lawyer, is becoming viral online. Reposted here as a record of what makes a great speech.

source: http://blog.trinetizen.com/wordpress/?cat=18

This convo speech by Adrian Tan, a Singapore lawyer, is becoming viral online. Reposted here as a record of what makes a great speech.

Life and How to Survive It

I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.

My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.

On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.

Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.

And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you’ve already won her heart, you don’t need to win every argument.

Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.

The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You’re done learning.

You’ve probably been told the big lie that “Learning is a lifelong process” and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters’ degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don’t you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.

The good news is that they’re wrong.

The bad news is that you don’t need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You’re in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.

I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean
the average life span of a group of people. But I’m here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.

You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan, and tied with San Marino. It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There’s very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and
restful nap.

Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.

So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you’ll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.

Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they’re 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn’t meet their life expectancy.

I’m here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.

After all, it’s calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.

Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.

That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.

If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don’t need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.

What you should prepare for is mess. Life’s a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.

Don’t expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.

What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.

Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.

The most important is this: do not work.

Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.

Work kills. The Japanese have a term “Karoshi”, which means death from overwork. That’s the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there’s nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.

There’s a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are “making a living”. No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.

People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan “Arbeit macht frei” was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.

Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.

Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.

I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn’t do that, I would’ve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction – probably a sports journalist.

So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don’t imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I’ll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.

Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don’t, you are working.

Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth.

I’m not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.

In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.

I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many.

That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.

One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it’s often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one’s own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.

The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.

I didn’t say “be loved”. That requires too much compromise. If one changes one’s looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.

Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. We’ve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work – the only kind of work that I find palatable.

Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.

Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn’t happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.

You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart. You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.

Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.

Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.

You’re going to have a busy life. Thank goodness there’s no life expectancy.

Is or Are?

‘Is’ and ‘are’ confusion

COULD you please tell me which of these sentences are correct?

1a. There is an apple and a mango on the table.

b. There are an apple and a mango on the table.

2a. The meeting lasted two hours.

b. The meeting last for two hours.

3a. Alice is good at Mathematics.

b. Alice is good in Mathematics.

c. Alice is good at / in cooking.

– Ho Lee Tyng

1. THE correct sentence is (a) “There is an apple and a mango on the table.” The “be” verb after “There” in this sort of structure agrees with the first noun, when there is a list of nouns mentioned. Since the first noun “apple” is singular, “is” is used after “There”.

If the first noun is plural, like “apples”, for instance, the plural verb “are” is used:

“There are several apples and a mango on the table.” BUT

“There is a mango and several apples on the table.”

2. The correct sentence is (a) “The meeting lasted two hours.” We can also say “The meeting lasted for two hours.”

Sentence (b) is incorrect because the singular subject “meeting” does not agree with the plural verb “last”; and also because the sentence ought to be in the past tense, since you won’t know how long a meeting is going to last until it is over.

3. Sentence (a) “Alice is good at Mathematics.” is correct. When we use “good” to mean “skilful”, it should be followed by “at”.

So, sentence (c) should use “at” as well: “Alice is good at cooking.”, but you can also say “Alice cooks well.” or “Alice is a good cook.”


source: mind our english - the star

When To Use Be, Been & Being

Be, been and being

By FADZILAH AMIN - thestar.com.my



WHAT is the difference between be, been and being?

Could you describe when and how to use them especially in academic writing? – IF



“BE” is the base form of the verb “be”; “been” is the past participle of the verb “be” and “being” is the present participle of the verb “be”.

“Be” is used whenever the base form of a verb needs to be used, for example after an auxiliary verb, e.g. in “You should be a good example to your younger siblings.”

It can also be used in the infinitive form of “be” as in “He wants to be an engineer.”

“Been”, like past participles of other verbs, is used to form a passive verb and also the present perfect and past perfect tenses, e.g.:

“The bag-snatcher has been arrested.” (passive sentence with passive verb “has been”)

“My parents have been a source of strength to me all my life.” (“have been” is a verb in the present perfect tense)

“She had been hungry all day until I brought her some food.” (“had been” is a verb in the past perfect tense)

“Being”, like present participles of other verbs, is used to form the present continuous (progressive) tense and the past continuous tense. Here are some examples:

“The little girl is being difficult, crying all day, because her mother won’t buy her a doll.” (“is being” is a verb in the present continuous tense)

“He was being friendly to her, but she thought he was trying to flirt with her.” (“was being” is a verb in the past continuous tense)

I am sorry, I can’t be more detailed than this, since space is limited. I have just given you some basic explanations and a few examples. You can consult a grammar book for further information. You need to be grammatical when you write, whether for academic purposes or other purposes.

There are also different kinds of academic writing, depending on what subject you are studying.

To All FACEBOOK Lovers... Be Prepared For This...

Another redesign for Facebook on 6th birthday

NEW YORK: Facebook is redesigning its site yet again, this time to better emphasize applications, games and search.

Links and items have moved around the home page as Facebook tries to streamline navigation and make games and apps stand out more.

The latest evolution continued Friday after Facebook started rolling the changes out late Thursday, the company's sixth birthday.

The changes were being made in stages, so not all users were seeing them right away.

The world's largest online social network has continuously morphed its home page as it's grown from a closed hub for college students to a Web and mobile destination for 400 million people worldwide.

Past changes have sparked protests from many users, though Facebook says it makes them to serve its audience better.

Facebook says that it conducts months of testing and that many users request such changes.

With the latest redesign, links to friend requests, messages and comment notifications are no longer scattered around and now reside on the top of the page.

On the updated site, the search box stands out more.

Microsoft Corp., which powers Facebook search and advertising, said Friday in a blog post that search results on the social site will go beyond just links to include "richer answers combined with tools that help customers make faster, smarter decisions."

Under a new agreement, Microsoft will run text ads next to Facebook search results worldwide, rather than only in the U.S. as was the case before.

However, Microsoft loses the right to sell display ads - the online billboards that command more money than search ads, but aren't as lucrative yet.

Facebook will now sell those ads directly.

Facebook's chat feature also becomes more prominent with the redesign. Users can now see friends who are currently online without clicking on a link.

This doesn't include all friends, only the ones they communicate with often.

There are also new links on the left that take users to online dashboards where they can organize games and applications and find new ones by seeing what their friends use. Games such as "Farmville" and "Mafia Wars" have surged in popularity on Facebook. - AP

the redesign will take place in stages... my friend's FB in Australia is no longer the same as ours.. we gonna have the new face of FACEBOOK soon...

No More Photos... uhuksss

Hi all...

I am having a little situation here...
This blog of mine has reached its quota for uploading photos!
Oh nooo! A post would be bland without a photo to spice it up... this is so sad...

Dear blogspot I need more storage for my photos pleaseeeee!

Tired of Your Life and Job?

this is the remedy.... enjoyyyy...

Caused & Was Caused By

Idioms: The Bank Teller

ON my first day at work as a bank teller, the manager called me to his room and said in the tone of a father giving advice to his child: “Always be alert and careful when you are handling cash. Avoid small talk with the customer when you are counting money lest you lose your concentration and incur a cash shortage. You may be a teller, but you don’t have to say much most of the time.”

I nodded, and he continued: “Make a point of being courteous to every customer – remember that every bank account is of account. Courtesy is good for the person you’re dealing with, good for your own well-being, and certainly good for the bank’s balance sheet. Try to get more ‘smileage’ out of your work.”

Before he ended the conversation, he added: “I hope I can safely rely on you to work extremely hard.”

“I think I can depend on me to do my level best,” I said.

When I returned to my ergonomically designed work station, the chief cashier handed me a bundle of money and said: “Count this bundle of one-ringgit notes to make sure there are one hundred pieces.”

“May I use the machine to count the pieces?” I asked.

“No, you may not,” he said in a measured tone. “Count them manually. With practice, the task of counting paper money will soon be a piece of cake for you.”

Later, I related the counting chore to another colleague during our lunch break. “When I counted up to sixty-four, I said to the chief cashier: ‘If it is right this far, it’s probably right all the way. I’m returning the bundle to you now.’”

“I don’t believe you said that to the chief cashier,” he said. “You are pulling my leg, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” I said. “I’m just trying to relax a bit.”

As I was about to leave the bank that day, I overheard the manager ask the chief cashier: “How is the new teller doing?”

“I think he will soon reflect in his work the confidence the management has in him,” the chief cashier replied.

“Ah,” I thought, “that’s music to my ears!”

Small talk: Light conversation on unimportant matters.

Make a point of: To treat (something) as important.

Do one’s level best: To make one’s best effort.

Make sure/certain: (i) To confirm. (ii) To ensure. (You should go early if you want to make certain of getting tickets for the show.)

(A) piece of cake: Something very easy to do or obtain.

Pull someone’s leg: To make fun of someone in a friendly way, especially by trying to make him believe something untrue.

Music to someone’s ears: Something very pleasant for someone to hear.

Why We Need Sex Education

I found this article on the net... It was quite an old one but it's the best article that I can get hold of that gives clear explanation on the need of sex education in school..

I especially like the part .. not falling for the “if you love me, you will have sex with me”

here is the full article..

We all need to face facts that our young people are having their first sexual experience at an earlier age and have a shallow understanding of HIV. Not only that, we read of gang-rapes, unwanted teenage pregnancies, baby dumping and even stories of teenagers being totally unaware that they are pregnant until they deliver. Sex education is not only about the mechanics of sex but also learning how to respect our bodies and one another. It need not encourage promiscuity, but properly taught can encourage abstinence till marriage and not falling for the “if you love me, you will have sex with me” line. It is needed to encourage responsible sexual behavior and avoid unwanted pregnancies, STDs and HIV/AIDs. One last point — parents should not just leave it to the teachers but take it upon themselves (no matter how embarassing) to have frank discussions of responsible sexual behaviour with their kids. After all we want the best for our kids and want to protect them in every possible way, don’t we?

source

Moral vs Morale

Don't get confused with moral and morale. Both have different meanings.

Morale means a state of individual psychological well-being based upon a sense of confidence and usefulness and purpose whereas Moral means:
# concerned with principles of right and wrong or conforming to standards of behavior and character based on those principles; "moral sense"
# the significance of a story or event; "the moral of the story is to love thy neighbor"
# psychological rather than physical or tangible in effect; "a moral victory"; "moral support"

List of 20 High Performance Schools: My Primary School Is Listed! Yeayyy!

The hot topic among teachers for this past week is High Performance School! To my surprise, my primary school that I attended (like millions years ago) made the list! Really proud of that school! Long live SK Zainab 2! yeayyy!

Here is a news excerpt...

List of 20 High Performance Schools


PUTRAJAYA, 25 JAN, 2010: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today announced that 20 schools - 14 secondary and six primary - had been accorded the status of high performance schools or Sekolah Berprestasi Tinggi (SBTs).



Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, said of the 14 secondary schools, 10 were fully residential schools and the rest day schools.


"These schools were chosen from among schools that showed outstanding performance in the field of academia, co-curriculum and niche areas.


"The schools will be guided and monitored closely to ensure they continue to attain even higher levels of performance," he told reporters at his office here today.



The 10 fully residential schools are Sekolah Tun Fatimah (Johor Bahru), Sekolah Dato' Abdul Razak (Seremban), Malay College Kuala Kangsar, Sekolah Seri Puteri (Cyberjaya), Sekolah Menengah Sultan Abdul Halim (Jitra).



Kolej Tunku Kurshiah (Seremban), Kolej Islam Sultan Alam Shah (Klang), Sekolah Menengah Sains (SMS) Tuanku Syed Putra (Perlis), Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah (Putrajaya) and SMS Muzaffar Syah (Melaka).



The four day schools are Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) (P) Sri Aman (Petaling Jaya), SMK Aminuddin Baki (Kuala Lumpur), SMK Sultanah Asma (Alor Setar) and SMK (P) St. George (Penang).



The six primary schools are Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Seri Bintang Utara (KL), SK Taman Tun Dr Ismail 1 (KL), SK Bukit Damansara (KL), SK Zainab (2) (Kota Bharu), SK Convent Kota (Taiping), SK Bandar Baru Uda 2 (Johor Bahru).



At the same time, Muhyiddin stressed that SBTs were not elite schools which benefited only a limited number of students.



Instead, he said each school in the country had the same opportunity and a level playing field to be recognised as SBTs.



"Any school that meets the targets of excellence and criteria set (by the Education Ministry) will be recognised as a SBTs and get the same privileges," he said.




Muhyiddin said the ministry targeted to have 30 SBTs by next year and 50 in 2012.



He said the rationale in having SBTs was to raise the quality of the best schools in the country to be world class, produce outstanding students and narrow the gap between schools within the system.



He said SBTs would be given additional autonomy to pursue innovation in school management and raise the productivity of students.


As for curriculum, he said, it would be flexible in terms of teaching and learning as well as syllabi for compulsory and elective subjects, conforming to public examinations and use of the national language as the medium of instruction or multiple languages.



Beside these, Muhyiddin said the schools concerned were also given leeway in fixing the minimum periods for subjects, extending schooling hours and allowing students to complete their studies a year earlier, just like the express promotion system that was introduced previously.


In terms of budget ownership, he said a lump sum grant would be channelled to the schools at the beginning of each year and that they would have the full flexibility to spend as needed and were exempted from the ministry's centralised procurement system.



"Every school has its own budget, but with this status, they will be given additional funds and they can use the money as needed," he said, adding that the grant might be less than RM1 million but had not been fixed yet as this depended on the size of the SBT.



He also said management of staff at these schools would be based on meritocracy and not seniority, besides flexibility given for the paying of overtime and performance incentives.



"There will also be flexibility to re-assign under performing staff and delegation of functions based on academic and non-academic reasons," he said.

source: http://www.malaysiandigest.com/news/36-local/1831-list-of-20-high-performance-schools-sbt.html

Anything or Everything?

Sometimes we got confused which one is to be used... is it anything or everything?

Here is an article I took from Mind Our English

WHICH is the better sentence? We should never ever give up on everything that we do. OR We should never ever give up on anything that we do. I think it is the second sentence, but why is that? – MOE reader

You are right. The second sentence is better. This is because “anything” is usually used in a negative sentence, and both your sentences are negative.

“Everything” is better used in a positive sentence, e.g. “We should be wholehearted in everything we do.”

by:FADZILAH AMIN

What Is TESL?

My new friend inspired me to come up with this entry, thanx Marni!

She suggested that I put lots of TESL stuff in this blog to generate more hits... waaahhh great idea.. I never thought of that before!

So, for start, let's have the meaning of T.E.S.L first;

TESL is an acronym for Teaching of English as a Second Language.

ESL (English as a second language), ESOL (English for speakers of other languages), and EFL (English as a foreign language) all refer to the use or study of English by speakers with a different native language. These terms are most commonly used in relation to teaching and learning English, but they may also be used in relation to demographic information.

Cute!

can you see the blue circle.. can you guess what is that in the circle...



it's a little teddy bear hanging just below the plate number... it looks so cute!

Thank You Redmummy

Well... c'est la vie... life must go on... though I have yet to receive any sort of compensations from the travel agency... this blog must go on right? hahaha...

special thanx to redmummy.com for this



due to an entry in redmummy.com regarding the photo issue.. this blog received almost 400 hits!

What Would You Do

What would you do if the above photo ends up in this brochure...



without your permission...



a free trip to Beijing courtesy of the company would do.... hmmm...

Please Don't Hate Me For Posting This...

Happy Monday morning people... I just love Mondays... full of possibilities for the week ahead... challenges and adventures to be experienced...



how about this for an early monday morning breakfast.... hahaa...



and also this..... yummmeeeyyhhhh...


happy working all... just be thankful that we have a job that can support us n our family...

The Time Is Now

"The way to get things done is to stimulate competition. I do not mean in a sordid money-getting way, but in the desire to excel." Charles Schwab

I'm going to try that with my students, do you think it is going to work? hmmmm.....

New Semester

New beginning...

to all of my students...

Wanted... Who? What?

Happy Friday people!

Weekend is just around the corner.. what is your plan for this weekend?






Trying to find a wife? Or a maid? or fishing partner? hehehehe

Arghh... Men...

Yes John, you are really 'helping' Sheila... haha....

Latest Attraction At Our House

Hi readers, I'm Bubu.. let me out of this cage..... meoww...



this is not the same Bubu that we had before.. we are baby sitting him just for a few days.. his mommy went to KL..



careful.. you might get yourself electrocuted..



one of his favourite place.... trying to get our attention...



another favourite place..



monkeying around... what is that yellow thingy?



euwww! he got himself in a fight on the second day he was here... poor Bubu.. don't know how his mommy going to react... huhu..

How To Become A Famous Blogger

haha...

Farah Gets Lost At The Pasar Malam

I came across this book while reading The Star just now.

This is a good English book for children not only for the sake of improving one's English but also for the lesson that could be learned from the story.

i.e what to do when you get lost
how to get help from others

This kind of book is not only for children, I would recommend this type of books to those who wanted to improve their English no matter what age group you are in.


Farah Gets Lost At The Pasar Malam

Author: Shafina Abdul Hamid

Illustrator: Z. Q. Bak

Publisher: Beanstalk Enterprise, 18 pages

IN this book Farah accompanies her parents to the pasar malam. Her mother asks the little girl to stay close but Farah is distracted by some trinkets and wanders off. Presently, she realises that her parents are nowhere to be seen. Farah panics but luckily, a kind stranger turns up to help her. Farah Learns The Joy Of Sharing continues this new series that aims to teach “life lessons” to children. The stories end in lists, instructing children how to behave.

01012010

A bright new day
Hoping for a brighter year ahead



HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A Good Morning

What a lovely morning today is...




the daily morning scene at our house..


that's Ibu our cat..


the other 2 are Ibu's boyfriends... hihi...




I just don't know why.... but it's really therapeutic to start your day with this...




today is the final day of 2009


I'm welcoming 2010 with arms wide open...

2010 I SEE you... :)

MUET 2010 Calendar - MUET Registration Date For 2010

click photo to enlarge


for more information on MUET please visit http://www.mpm.edu.my/

New Year Resolutions

get the joke? hehe

It's the time of the year again....
the time to set our new year resolutions...
but what about the last year's resolutions? hahaha...

before we think of any resolutions, let's ask mr wiki what is New Year's Resolution

A New Year's resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or the reforming of a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. The name comes from the fact that these commitments normally go into effect on New Year's Day and remain until fulfilled or abandoned. More socio-centric examples include resolutions to donate to the poor more often, to become more assertive, or to become more economically or environmentally responsible. People may act similarly during the Christian fasting period of Lent, though the motive behind this holiday is more of sacrifice than of responsibility. The new year resolution is one example of the rolling forecast-method of planning. According to this method, plans are established at regular short or medium-term time intervals, when only a rough long-term plan exists.

As for me, one of my new year resolutions would be...

.

I will try my best to be wiser with my money.. and refrain myself from buying this kind of stuff

You Are Always IN/ON My Mind..??

I know we normally say “on my mind” but is it wrong to say “in my mind?” – LP

It depends on what you mean. When you say “There’s something on my mind.” you mean you are thinking a lot about that something or worrying about it. But when you say “I can still hear the music in my mind, even though the concert took place many days ago.”, you are talking about something you can still remember. “On someone’s mind” is an idiomatic expression: you can change “someone’s” to “my” or “your”, etc, but you can’t change “on” to “in” without altering the meaning of the expression

By FADZILAH AMIN - THE STAR

Lalalaa Happy Day...

To all christians out there..

Merry Christmas

and to to the rest...

Happy New Year!!! -

Wishing everybody a fantastic new year!

New Year's sunrise... a bright new year ahead.. God-willing..

What Subject?

Question: What subject you take in university?

(Is this the correct way to ask a friend who is still studying in university?)

Answer:

It is better to say:“What subject are you taking at university?”

Meet or Met?

Is this correct?

1. A: Have you ever met him?

B: No, I have not met him.

The Answer.

1. “Met”here is used as a past participle and is part of the present perfect negative verb “have not met”. The answer is in the present perfect tense because the question is in that tense, using the verb “have met”. It would be better to use the adverb “never” in the answer instead of “not”, because the question uses the adverb “ever”. Thus the dialogue would go:

A : Have you ever met him?

B : No, I have never met him.

On Weekend Or At The Weekend?

We are still on the topic of American English vs British English, now let's look at the differences in the usage of prepositions.

Prepositions

There are also a few differences in preposition use including the following:

American English – on the weekend

British English – at the weekend

American English – on a team

British English –in a team

American English – please write me soon

British English – please write to me soon

source: Mind Our English - The Star

I've Just Had Lunch vs I Just Had Lunch

In British English, the present perfect is used to express an action that has occurred in the recent past that has an effect on the present moment. For example: I’ve lost my key. Can you help me look for it?

In American English, the following is also possible: I lost my key. Can you help me look for it?

In British English, the above would be considered incorrect. However, both forms are generally accepted in standard American English.

Other differences involving the use of the present perfect in British English and simple past in American English include already, just and yet.

British English:

I’ve just had lunch.

I’ve already seen that film.

Have you finished your homework yet?

American English:

I just had lunch.

I already saw that film.

Did you finish your homework yet?

So... which one to use? Both are correct. It is up to you which one to use.


POSSESSION

There are two forms to express possession in English - have or have got.

Do you have a car? Have you got a car? He hasn’t got any friends. He doesn’t have any friends. She has a beautiful new home. She’s got a beautiful new home.

While both forms are correct (and accepted in both British and American English), have got (have you got, he hasn’t got, etc.) is generally the preferred form in British English while most speakers of American English employ the have (do you have, he doesn’t have etc.)



an excerpt from - Mind Our English - The Star

Latest Book By Marianna Pascal To Improve Your English Language

I went to Popular Bookstore few days ago and I came across this book..






It's RM29.90 before discount.

Redmummy.com

I've been reading redmummy.com religiously for the past 2 years...

Look at her blog hits! Wow! That is really amazing. How I wish this blog of mine will someday, somehow received that kind of hits! Wishing and hoping! :)

What Is Maal Hijrah?

Maal Hijrah, which is also called Awal Muharram, is an important day for muslim. It falls on the first day of Muharram on every Muslim calender year, which is the first day on muslim calender.

The meaning of Maal Hijrah in English is migration. On this day, Muslim remember Nabi Muhammad S.A.W migrate from Mekkah to Madinah on the year 622 A.D. Besides, Maal Hijrah also mean changes from bad to good side and can be said as starting point and evaluate inner-self on self achievement.

Awal means begining in English and Muharram is the first month of muslim calender. In another words, this is the first day in Muslim calendar. Therefore, this is also the new year for all Muslim.

This day has became an important religious day for all muslim. All the mosque will have solat sunat.

Happy New Year To All Muslims

It's Thursday!

nice.... ahakss..

How Soon?

Nomenclature??

I've received a memo with a word 'nomenclature' in it...

I was like... huhh? what's that?




with the help of wikipedia I found the meaning for 'nomenclature'

Nomenclature refers to either a list of names and/or terms, or to the system of principles, procedures and terms related to naming - which is the assigning of a word or phrase to a particular object or property.^[1] The principles of naming vary from the relatively informal conventions of everyday speech to the internationally-agreed principles, rules and recommendations that govern the formation and use of the specialist terms used in scientific and other disciplines.

Naming "things" is a part of our general communication using words and language: it is an aspect of everyday taxonomy as we distinguish the objects of our experience, together with their similarities and differences, which we identify, name and classify. The use of names, as the many different kinds of nouns embedded in different languages, connects nomenclature to theoretical linguistics, while the way we mentally structure the world in relation to word meanings and experience relates to the philosophy of language.

Onomastics, the study of proper names and their origins, includes: anthroponymy, concerned with human names, including personal names, surnames and nicknames; toponymy the study of place names; and etymology, the derivation, history and use of names as revealed through comparative and descriptive linguistics.

The scientific need for simple, stable and internationally-accepted systems for naming objects of the natural world has generated many formal nomenclatural systems. Probably the best known of these nomenclatural systems are the five codes of biological nomenclature that govern the Latinized scientific names of organisms.

KPTM Staff Day 2009

more photos - http://kptmkuantan.blogspot.com

Something Wrong

The 7 foods experts won't eat

by Liz Vaccariello, Editor-in-Chief, PREVENTION,


How healthy (or not) certain foods are—for us, for the environment—is a hotly debated topic among experts and consumers alike, and there are no easy answers. But when Prevention talked to the people at the forefront of food safety and asked them one simple question—“What foods do you avoid?”—we got some pretty interesting answers. Although these foods don’t necessarily make up a "banned” list, as you head into the holidays—and all the grocery shopping that comes with it—their answers are, well, food for thought:

20 ways to feed your family for $100 a week.

1. Canned Tomatoes

The expert: Fredrick vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A

The problem: The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Unfortunately, acidity (a prominent characteristic of tomatoes) causes BPA to leach into your food. Studies show that the BPA in most people's body exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. "You can get 50 mcg of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that's a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young," says vom Saal. "I won't go near canned tomatoes."

The solution: Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Bionaturae and Coluccio. You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, like Trader Joe's and Pomi.

14 worst health mistakes even smart women make.

2. Corn-Fed Beef

The expert: Joel Salatin, co-owner of Polyface Farms and author of half a dozen books on sustainable farming

The problem: Cattle evolved to eat grass, not grains. But farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. More money for cattle farmers (and lower prices at the grocery store) means a lot less nutrition for us. A recent comprehensive study conducted by the USDA and researchers from Clemson University found that compared with corn-fed beef, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium; lower in inflammatory omega-6s; and lower in saturated fats that have been linked to heart disease. "We need to respect the fact that cows are herbivores, and that does not mean feeding them corn and chicken manure," says Salatin.

The solution: Buy grass-fed beef, which can be found at specialty grocers, farmers' markets, and nationally at Whole Foods. It's usually labeled because it demands a premium, but if you don't see it, ask your butcher.

25 ridiculously healthy foods you should be eating now.

3. Microwave Popcorn

The expert: Olga Naidenko, PhD, a senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group,

The problem: Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to a recent study from UCLA. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer. Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize—and migrate into your popcorn. "They stay in your body for years and accumulate there," says Naidenko, which is why researchers worry that levels in humans could approach the amounts causing cancers in laboratory animals. DuPont and other manufacturers have promised to phase out PFOA by 2015 under a voluntary EPA plan, but millions of bags of popcorn will be sold between now and then.

The solution: Pop natural kernels the old-fashioned way: in a skillet. For flavorings, you can add real butter or dried seasonings, such as dillweed, vegetable flakes, or soup mix.

Your nutritional guide to grocery shopping.

4. Nonorganic Potatoes

The expert: Jeffrey Moyer, chair of the National Organic Standards Board

The problem: Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. In the case of potatoes—the nation's most popular vegetable—they're treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they're dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting. "Try this experiment: Buy a conventional potato in a store, and try to get it to sprout. It won't," says Moyer, who is also farm director of the Rodale Institute (also owned by Rodale Inc., the publisher of Prevention). "I've talked with potato growers who say point-blank they would never eat the potatoes they sell. They have separate plots where they grow potatoes for themselves without all the chemicals."

The solution: Buy organic potatoes. Washing isn't good enough if you're trying to remove chemicals that have been absorbed into the flesh.

14 ways to make veggies less boring.

5. Farmed Salmon

The expert: David Carpenter, MD, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany and publisher of a major study in the journal Science on contamination in fish.

The problem: Nature didn't intend for salmon to be crammed into pens and fed soy, poultry litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. As a result, farmed salmon is lower in vitamin D and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and pesticides such as dioxin and DDT. According to Carpenter, the most contaminated fish come from Northern Europe, which can be found on American menus. "You can only safely eat one of these salmon dinners every 5 months without increasing your risk of cancer," says Carpenter, whose 2004 fish contamination study got broad media attention. "It's that bad." Preliminary science has also linked DDT to diabetes and obesity, but some nutritionists believe the benefits of omega-3s outweigh the risks. There is also concern about the high level of antibiotics and pesticides used to treat these fish. When you eat farmed salmon, you get dosed with the same drugs and chemicals.

The solution: Switch to wild-caught Alaska salmon. If the package says fresh Atlantic, it's farmed. There are no commercial fisheries left for wild Atlantic salmon.

Delicious and easy fish recipes

6. Milk Produced with Artificial Hormones

The expert: Rick North, project director of the Campaign for Safe Food at the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility and former CEO of the Oregon division of the American Cancer Society

The problem: Milk producers treat their dairy cattle with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST, as it is also known) to boost milk production. But rBGH also increases udder infections and even pus in the milk. It also leads to higher levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor in milk. In people, high levels of IGF-1 may contribute to breast, prostate, and colon cancers. "When the government approved rBGH, it was thought that IGF-1 from milk would be broken down in the human digestive tract," says North. As it turns out, the casein in milk protects most of it, according to several independent studies. "There's not 100% proof that this is increasing cancer in humans," admits North. "However, it's banned in most industrialized countries."

The solution: Check labels for rBGH-free, rBST-free, produced without artificial hormones, or organic milk. These phrases indicate rBGH-free products.

Don’t be fooled by these 11 health food imposters.

7. Conventional Apples

The expert: Mark Kastel, former executive for agribusiness and codirector of the Cornucopia Institute, a farm-policy research group that supports organic foods

The problem: If fall fruits held a "most doused in pesticides contest," apples would win. Why? They are individually grafted (descended from a single tree) so that each variety maintains its distinctive flavor. As such, apples don't develop resistance to pests and are sprayed frequently. The industry maintains that these residues are not harmful. But Kastel counters that it's just common sense to minimize exposure by avoiding the most doused produce, like apples. "Farm workers have higher rates of many cancers," he says. And increasing numbers of studies are starting to link a higher body burden of pesticides (from all sources) with Parkinson's disease.

The solution: Buy organic apples. If you can't afford organic, be sure to wash and peel them first.

Resume

HOW TO WRITE A BETTER RESUME by Brian Konradt

Which word is more scarier to you? If someone yelled out “fire!” or if someone whispered in your ear, “Did you write your resume yet?” To most people, hearing the word “resume” induces panic attacks and beads of sweat across the forehead.

Writing a resume is hard work. You must write your resume correctly; it must be perfect! Any blunders in your resume could cost you the job. The entire resume-writing process can be confusing. We’ve all asked ourselves these questions: “Which information goes in?” “Which stays out?” “How exactly should I format my resume?”

If you jumped into a pile of books and articles on how to write the perfect resume, you’d drown in words, sentences and advice that all sound the same. So what in the world will make your resume leap out of the pile and scream out, “Grab me! I am the person you want to hire!”

Writing a resume is an art and a science. We need to know a successful formula of words, sentences, format and finesse to convey effectively our selling points. The following tips are shortcuts to write a stellar resume for whatever sort of job you desire.

FORMAT WITH CAUTION

Your professional history will strongly dictate your resume format. We must choose one of three basic resume types: chronological, functional or combination.

The Chronological Resume - This is the most common type of resume, the one that comes to mind when we speak about a resume. A chronological resume is appropriate if you’ve had steady work experience with little to no breaks, have kept each of your jobs for long periods of time, or have industry-related experience that shows your working toward a specific goal. The Chronological Resume is comprised of:

• Objective (which we’ll discuss in a few paragraphs)
• Employment history (starting from your most recent job)
• Education
• Optional section (for things such as military experience or any special skills/interests that may pertain to the job at hand)
• References

The Functional Resume - A variation of the chronological resume, a functional resume intends to highlight skills found outside of work experience; it’s useful if you’re in the process of changing careers, have little to no work experience or have held several, seemingly unrelated jobs. This sort of resume is comprised of:

• Qualifications summary (a bulleted list of achievements or interests that qualify you for the job for which you’re applying).
• Employment history
• Education
• Optional section
• References

The Combination Resume - A combination resume is what it sounds like: a combination of the chronological and functional formats. It tends to be slightly more useful than the functional resume, as that format sometimes makes an employer suspicious that you’re hiding something (such as a lack of experience). The combination resume is comprised of:

• Qualifications summary
• Education (especially if it’s a particularly strong area for you)
• Employment history (in reverse order as the chronological resume)
• Optional section
• References

RETHINK YOUR OBJECTIVE

Many books and articles extol the virtues of an objective; it is, after all, a great way to position yourself within a job and show an employer what you want and how willing you are to get it. A lot of job-seekers have been ditching the objective in favor of a qualifications summary, and employers seem to be responding well. The reason for this is simple: objectives are, by nature, focused heavily on youemployer. Your potential employer, while certainly interested in what you want, is far more concerned with your qualifications and what you can do for the company.

The idea isn’t all bad, though. It just needs a little tweaking. Instead of an objective, try creating a positioning statement.; it functions on the same way as an objective but puts the focus on you. Take a look at these examples:

Objective: To become an associate editor of children’s books at a major publishing house.

Positioning Statement: Children’s book editor with 10 years of experience in publishing.

These are loose examples, of course, but you get the idea; put the focus on you and the employer will take notice.

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

Be specific about what exactly you’ve done. Your former job responsibilities and achievements are excellent selling points in your resume. Avoid being vague, unless you want your resume to read like everyone else’s. Think about your previous jobs: what exactly did you do and how does that qualify you for a new position? For instance, don’t write that you “assisted the senior editor with a number of editorial duties.” Instead, write “contributed to editorial copy and content editing, cover design and overall concept of several major projects.” Detailing your specific job duties and accomplishments show the employer what you’re capable of and what he or she can expect from you as an employee.

SHOW THEM WHAT YOU CAN DO

It’s tempting to outline your responsibilities to save some space and not appear overly conceited, but remember -- you’re here to sell yourself. You have one shot to make an impression. Chances are good that the employer will already know a bit about the duties of your last job (especially if it’s linked to this job), so they need to read about what you’ve accomplished as opposed to what you did. Anyone could go through the motions of a nine-to-five day, but what did you actually achieve? What were the results of your work? Don’t be modest with this; if a book you edited hit the best-seller list, then by all means, let the employer know. Never withhold important information about your achievements.

WORD IT WELL

The words you use in your resume are just as important as the results you’ve achieved or the jobs you’ve held. Make sure you use lively, engaging words and always avoid the passive voice; it reads in a boring, trite manner. Always write in active voice so you sound more formal and direct. Stay concise -- are you using more words that necessary? Would a great action verb effectively replace a whole sentence? Are there any obvious clichés, like “great customer service skills”? Strive to say things in the most interesting manner possible, and make sure you spell all words correctly. There’s nothing worse than a typo on a resume, as it leaves the impression that “if this person doesn’t care enough to spellcheck their resume,” the employer thinks, “then how in the world will they care enough to do this job well?”

PERFECT THE PRESENTATION

Resume presentation is another crucial aspect to the resume-writing process. How your resume looks will serve as the employer’s first impression of you; if it looks bad, or amateurish, your resume may not get a second glance. Make sure the visual formatting is correct (consult a resume guide book for samples of formatting) and always leave lots of white space; this makes it easier for an employer to skim through your resume and find the information they need. Use an easily readable font, such as Arial or Times New Roman; print it on high-quality white stock (no photocopies!); and send it in a white or manila envelope with a printed mailing label. And always, always, always remember to include your contact information, even your email address; it’ll be hard to land that new position if the employer can’t even get in touch with you.

© B. Konradt

Brian Konradt is a freelance writer and founder of FreelanceWriting.Com (http://www.freelancewriting.com),

Buka Langsir

“Buka langsir dan tutup langsir,” in English can we say: Draw up the curtain and draw close the curtains? – Please help


Strangely enough, we can say “draw the curtains” to mean both “buka langsir” and “tutup langsir”. But there are other expressions that distinguish between the two actions and can therefore make our meaning clearer. These are “draw back the curtains” or “pull back the curtains” to mean “buka langsir” in contrast to “pull the curtains” or “close the curtains” to mean “tutup langsir”.We don’t say “open the curtains”, though!

by FADZILAH AMIN - thestar