Longer schooling time

Sixth form classes will be using a brand new syllabus in 2011. The schooling time will be extended, from 7.30 am to 4 pm. The syllabus will be executed in a 2-semester system.

As of this year school principal can implement at their own discretion the longer schooling time for sixth form classes. Feedback from pupils shows that most schools with sixth form classes in my town are going to go ahead with the new schooling time and that means teachers and pupils will have to stay until 4 pm for three or four days in a week as Friday will not be affected by this new system, starting this June.

Quality of teaching and learning should be the priority rather than the duration of school time. School principals usually are helpless in ensuring teachers to be competent in their job, especially those teachers who teach higher forms as principals in government schools cant choose which teacher they want like professional football team managers who can bid for the good players. With the new salary incentive given to those who teach higher form ( teachers who teach sixth form classes are given extra allowance or given the opportunity to move one grade up their salary scale ), those who used to refuse to take up the responsibility of teaching higher forms by giving reasons that they were not competent enough would rush to claim that they were the experts in the respective subjects. It will be a total waste of time if the pupils were to stay with these not so competent teachers for longer hours.

police ' efficiency '

Went to the police depot to settle a traffic compound, a summon served on us 5 months after the offence was committed. We were caught speeding on the way back from our holiday in Singapore. It was a short shopping holiday with my younger daughter and son-in-law and my son. We were actually speeding at a speed above the speed limit for almost the whole stretch of the journey but it was at Rembau that the speeding was detected, probably by some hidden camera.
I had been to the police depot to pay for summons many years back and i dreaded going there because there was always a long queue of people waiting to see some higher rank police officer to ' beg ' for reduction of the fine before the payment was settled at another counter. Of course we could avoid the lining up if we did not mind paying the full amount of the summon. And it was just a formality that the officer signed and chopped on the summon ticket for everyone so that the offender could pay less.
Three years ago i went to the police depot once again to settle a similar summon and the service had improved. We could have the amount of the summon reduced at the penyemakan counter and then pay at the cashier.
Today i just had to go straight to the cashier and the cashier automatically effected the maximum reduction of the fine for me to pay up. It was RM200 instead of the stipulated RM 300. And i actually paid ' happily ' because there was no queue, no waiting at all.
Only if the police can improve their efficiency in serving and dealing with the public with respect to other matters besides collection of funds.

Age is relative

I have been thinking about when i will actually retire totally ( i have retired from the government service 10 years ago ) from giving private tuition. A few years back, i was thinking whether i would call it a day at 60 and now i am already 6 months into my 60th year of my life and i am still enjoying my teaching life besides the extra income i earn from it. I am not actually thinking of giving up of what i am doing now but sometimes i wonder when i should stop working completely. Then when Manchester United won the EPL trophy for the 18th time last weekend, i started reading all news on them in all the main English newspaper on their websites. Inevitably the time for their manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, to retire became the topic of discussion again. And he has not shown that he would do that in the near future. That sort of enlightened me on my own situation though there is hardly any comparison of what i do with the great Scot. If i am still enjoying what i am doing then i should just go on.

Getting started

I have started reading blogs just a few years back. I was introduced to blogs by my children and one of them started a blog of her own since my first grandchild was born. Her blog has been the main source of information of her family, my elder daughter, my son-in-law and the two very adorable grandchildren, to us since they are residing oversea.

I admire people who express their opinion and views on current political issues objectively and intelligently without fear in their blogs. Certain blogs have become my daily reading material instead the newspaper. I have stopped ordering and reading the local newspaper as they are always reporting news which only favors certain parties only. I have lost faith of the local newspaper totally for quite a while already.

I have been toying with the idea of starting a blog of my own and have put off the initiative once and again. Then my daughter and grandchildren came back to stay with us for more than a month this March and i have actually seen her writing her blog at the computer then i realized that it was not a very difficult task at all, i mean the getting the writings on to the website, everything is set in the blogger website and i just have to sign in and start writing. I finally and boldly sign myself in and there you are, my first words to be put up in the website, bravo!