My Thoughts: Unleashed

Finally.....Holidays....

2009-12-14T00:11:00.000-08:00

D E C E M B E R 1 4, 2 0 1 0

It has been a long time since I, last update my blog. I have been busy all this while. ctching up wirh deadlines and at the same, trying improve my teaching skills. Finally, end of the year, I have my...hopefully....nice holidays before the semester starts again on Jan 4, 2010.

For this holidays, I think I will spend most of my times on the computer.....designing an on-line florist shop for my father-in-law.

And, also trying to catch up with my blog....posting some interesting articles in this blog. To those who read this blog.....and also, are having a year-end holidays.....HAPPY HOLIDAY...

Mind Your English....

2009-07-27T01:43:00.000-07:00

J U L Y 2 7, 2 0 0 9

Some of you may recognize this notice. It is found in some of the rooms rented to students...

1. Apparently, the person who put up this notice, does not want to have anything to do with pillow and bedsheet so badly until he put this notice. The word 'Disclaimer' defined by Random House Dictionary as:

noun

1.	the act of disclaiming; the renouncing, repudiating, or denying of a claim; disavowal.

2.	a person who disclaims.

3.	a statement, document, or assertion that disclaims responsibility, affiliation, etc.; disavowal; denial.

A disclaimer notice is normally used to disclaim affiliation (like for example, 'this is not an official website of ABC company' or 'We provide software for educational proposes only and we are not responsible for any damage caused by software on this page!')

2. 'Pillow and bedsheet are not included and supplied by XXXXX'? It should be written at 'Pillow and bedsheets are not included or supplied by XXXXX'. It should be 'either...or' and NOT 'either...and'. Correct me if I am wrong.

A Poem for the Students (Updated)

2009-06-12T01:56:00.000-07:00

When we teach with our best.... Yon said you don’t understand
When we try to explain….. You said “Never Mind, I still don’t understand”
When we repeat and repeat again…. You said it is boring

When we give you tutorial….. You said you have did it
When we checked and found none….. You said you have submitted
When we checked and checked again….. You said you have forgotten

When we give you assignment….. You said you are going to do it
When we ask how many percent is completed….. You said you have not started yet
When we ask you to submit…. You said “Sir, Can you extend the deadline?”

When we ask you to write a report….. You searched the Internet
When we ask you to reference….. You said, “I will remember”
When we mark your report….. You “copy-and-paste” from the web

When we ask you not to read newspaper in the class….. You fall asleep
When we hear you snoring….. You said you are tired and sick
When we ask why are you so tired..... Your friends said you are gaming and chatting the whole night

When we ask you to stop talking in the class….. You are angry
When we scold you..... You talk even louder
When we ask you to leave the class….. You said I have paid for the class

When we ask 'where are you?'..... Your friends said you having your meal in the canteen
When we are about to finish..... You sneak into the class quietly
When we are about to leave the room..... You beg "Sir, please mark my attendance"

When we mark your attendance….. You are not there
When we send you an absenteeism letter….. You give us excuses
When we bar you from final exam….. You cried and said “Sir, please let me sit for the exam”

When we nag you….. You thought we are just like parrots
When we tell you what to do….. You are not listening
When you fail your exam….. You said we are not good

Written by Alex Wong

My 10 Years Service in KDU College....

2009-05-14T23:51:00.000-07:00

M A Y 1 5, 2 0 0 9

I joined KDU College in 28 December 1998. It has been 10 years....

I was also formerly a KDU college in the late 80s. KDU College has improved a lot over this 10 years. It gone through a long process. I have seen people come and people go. I feel that KDU College has the potential to grow to be the best college in Malaysia. That is also one of the reasons that I have been serving in KDU College. Eventhough, we have been through some bad times and good timers.

Today, I am happy to receive the KDU's 10-year Long Service Award. My wish is that I can continue to provide my service to educate students, not only students from Malaysia but around thw world.

THANK YOU, KDU COLLEGE

Teacher's Day

2009-05-14T23:50:00.000-07:00

M A Y 1 6, 2 0 0 9

To all the teachers...

HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY

Nurses Day

2009-05-10T22:31:00.000-07:00

M A Y 1 2, 2 0 0 9

To all the nurses...

HAPPY NURSES DAY

Mother's Day

2009-05-09T05:29:00.000-07:00

M A Y 1 0, 2 0 0 9

To all the mothers...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

World Red Cross Day

2009-05-07T06:33:00.000-07:00

M A Y 8, 2 0 0 9

To all the Members of Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies around the world.

HAPPY WORLD RED CROSS DAY

A Courage to Live On....

2009-05-07T06:15:00.000-07:00

M A Y 7, 2 0 0 9

Recently, a new patient joined the dialysis centre I go to. This uncle is about 50+ years. However, one of his legs was amputated due to diabetes. Eventhough, this only uncle only has one leg but he is not sad nor suicidal. He is very positive and does not fail to show his joy. He jokes...he laughs....he is joyful.... like anybody.Despite of the mishap, he has the courage to live on....

The other friend, I know of is a patient in my previous centre. He is in his 20s. And he is also a blind person. He is blind, also, due to diabetes. He is not able for almost 2 years. Though, he cannot see but he still is very positive about his life. He told me that he has not experience a lot of things before he is blind. despite of his blindness, yet he has to courage to live on....

TO THOSE WHO THINK YOU ARE WORTHLESS, HOPELESS AND SUICIDAL, PLEASE THINK AGAIN. THERE ARE PEOPLE THAT ARE MORE UNFORTUNATE THAN YOU. PICK UP THE COURAGE TO LIVE ON....

"Off" Translation (Update)

2009-04-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

A P R I L 2 9, 2 0 0 9

I was watching some old back-and-white movie. In one scene, the army commander instructed his army to fire the guns at the enemies. In the subtitle, they translated "Fire" to "Api" instead of "Tembak". That was years before... in the old days. We used to laugh at the translation

Years later..... Recently, I was watching a movie on the television. To my surprise, we never learn from our mistakes. The same thing happened again. Similar scene, latest movie..... Again they translated 'Fire' into 'Api'. When will we ever learn.

I also do not know whether these people are trained translator or not. Recently, in TV (or maybe Astro), in one movie, two person were arguing and one fellow scolded the other "D***H***" which is vulgar word. Instead of censoring the word with "blip". They put the word "D***H***" in the subtitle as if it is a name. My Gosh! What happen to Malaysia?

Some other famous translation of movie name. They translate "Breathless" to "Sesak Nafas".

2 May 2009
Last night, I was watching a German movie on Astro. In the movie, there was freak accident involving a tanker. When investigating the accident, the inspector was mentioning something about 'acid' (which was supposingly carried by the tanker in the accident) in German language. I look the word 'acid' (German) is also 'acid' in English. To my surprise, they translate the German word 'acid' to 'cuka' in BM ('vinegar' in English). I know both are sour but 'acid', of course, are more corrosive, which tiggered off the accident. Do we understand what we are translating, or the translator just listen to the soundtrack and do not watch the movie.

{Sigh}

PLEASE TRANSLATE IN THE RIGHT CONTEXT.

Malaysia Memang Boleh 2

2009-04-15T18:47:00.000-07:00

A P R I L 1 6, 2 0 0 9

Remember I posted an article "Malaysia Memang Boleh" in January. I was mentioning about a sitcom about a language class. Now there is another language class sitcom on NTV7 (Wed, 9.00pm). This one is more interesting. This time, it is about a direct-selling company that employs a Mandarin teacher to teach its member Mandarin because they want to venture into China. The class consists of people from various clans (Hakka, Cantonese, Hokkien, etc) including an Indian and a Malay. The sitcom is very entertasining and it also teaches you basic Mandarin. The sitcom is called "你好! Mr. Siao" (Mr.Siao's Mandarin Class).

Last time, Media Corp has "Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd" in Singapore and now Phua Chu Kang has moved to Malaysia with Rosie. Now NTV7 has started a new sitcom called "Phua Chu Kang Sdn Bhd." (Wed, 8.30pm)

MALAYSIA MEMANG BOLEH

The "Paper" Chase

2009-04-09T23:07:00.000-07:00

A P R I L 1 0, 2 0 0 9

Today, we have forgotten the idea of formal education. Education is to allow us to learn very fundamental of what we will doing. However, today's students study just to pass their examination. They failed to see that examination is basically to test whether they have attained enough knowledge. They study and study and make sure they can memorize and be able to reproduce "those memorized words" in the examination. Sad to say these will pull down the standard of our education. Students who memorized, do not really understand what they have studies. Neither do they learned. These has reflected in our job or work. In other words, people can produce work but they do not produce QUALITY work because they do not have the basic foundation. These foundation can only be obtained through education.

Through counseling in education fairs, I noticed that people are more concerned with the money and duration of the course rather than what they can learn in the course or quality of the course. Sad to say we are now chasing after paper (certificate). We hope we can get string of degrees, masters and even PhDs.

DO WE LEARN IN OUR STUFIES?

The Wonder of Today's Technology

2009-04-06T00:42:00.000-07:00

A P R I L 5, 2 0 0 9

Today's technology has made this world look smaller. I managed to find some of my old friends again. We have lost contact for almost 20 years. One of my friends, started a group in Facebook for all the ex- ad present members of Sandakan Red Crescent Society. There, I managed to find some of my long lost friends. This world is not far from our fingertips.

THANKS TO TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY.

Happy Birthday & Happy 16th Anniversay to My Wife

2009-02-19T18:05:00.001-08:00

F E B R U A R Y 2 0, 2 0 0 9

We have been married for 16 Years....

Thanks for all your love and care, you have given me. There is no word to express your love for me. Though I am not a perfect person and yet you choose to be my life partner.

Together, we went through rain and storms. And sunshine and rainbows.

I cherish every moment we are together.

We share the same birthday and our wedding anniversary falls on the same day too.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY & HAPPY 16th ANNIVERSARY, MY DEAREST WIFE, CARISSA.

WITH LOVE & KISSES, ALEX

Don't Drink and Drive

2009-02-01T18:32:00.000-08:00

F E B R U A R Y 2, 2 0 0 9

Last night (about 4.30 am), I was rudely awaken by some loud bangs in front of my house. Wondering what has happened. I ran downstair and to my horror, a car has landed right in front of my house.

The driver and the passenger are lucky to be alive....

Later, I found out that the driver was drunk. The drunk driver was speeding along the LDP (near KDU) towards Uptown. Apparently, he was too drunk and the car went out of control. The car, then, rammed into the divider and 'flew' over the fence (dividing LDP and SS22/1) and hit a tree. And landed on the SS22/1 road (right in front of my house).... nearly ram into my gate.

Lucky for the driver, after the car hit the tree, it landed upright on the ground. If the car landed upside down, the driver and the passenger could have been killed.

SO, A LESSON TO LEARN.... IF YOU ARE DRUNK, DON'T DRIVE. YOU COULD KILL SOMEONE OR YOURSELF.

Happy Chinese New Year 2009

2009-01-25T02:53:00.000-08:00

J A N U A R Y 2 5, 2 0 0 9

I will like to wish "恭喜发财" to all.

ALEX WONG.

Malaysia Memang Boleh

2009-01-25T02:24:00.000-08:00

J A N U A R Y 2 5, 2 0 0 9

Last night, I was watching a sitcom on TV2. The sitcom "Kelas No. 1" was about a teacher teaching Malay language to some international students. That's sounds familiar, right? It reminds of a classic British sitcom about a teacher (by the name of Mr. Brown) teaching English to some international students. "Mind Your Language".

It also reminds of others. They have a sticky fellow climbing up the wall. They called him "Spider-Man". We have one too. But, we called him "Cicak-Man".

They also have a strong man with big strong arms after eating spinach. They called him"Popeye". We have one too. A strong man with big strong arms after eating papaya (TV3). And we called him "Pepaya".

MALAYSIA MEMANG BOLEH!

Caught in Action

2009-01-06T22:46:00.000-08:00

J A N U A R Y 7, 2 0 0 9

Why do you have to park your car in the parking space which is meant for disable? I saw you walking out of your car. You are not disable.

HOPE YOU ARE NOT ONE OF THEM.

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-04T23:27:00.000-08:00

I would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year 2009.

HAPPY NEW YEAR and HAPPY SURFING.

It's Christmas Time in the City...

2008-12-16T19:31:00.000-08:00

N O V E M B E R 1 7, 2 0 0 8

It is the time of the year again. It is Christmas season. Young or old, man or woman... everybody is excited about Christmas.

For children, it is time for Santa Claus and presents.

For adult, it is time for party - foods and booze.

Today, Christmas is so commercialized. Shopping malls are decorated with Christmas Tree. Special sale offers are everywhere.

BUT do we remember the reason for celebrating Christmas? Many people have forgotten about the reason for celebrating Christmas.

'WE' are the reason for celebrating this auspicious day.

Some 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ was born into this world, in order to die for our sins. This is the true meaning of Christmas.

FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVERR BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE. - JOHN 3:16

The Demolition Man

2008-12-06T06:05:00.000-08:00

D E C E M B E R 6, 2 0 0 8

Speaking about computers, they can be great tools to us. Helping us to more effective and more efficient in our jobs. However, sometimes when problems (virus, software problems, device not working, etc) strike, it can be disastrous. So the next thing, we can do is to fix the problems ourselves. But when the problems are unsolved, we will call the computer support/technician or send the machine back to the shop for repair.

And then great disasters strike, all our data or software were gone. One of the fixes, technician always do is to format your harddisk. This is especially when your software does not work properly and also when your system is infected by virus. Actually, this problems are RECOVERABLE. But the technician normally just reformat your harddisk... taking the easy way out. But to us, the problems now get bigger. Now, we have to find and reinstall all the software and reconstruct all our data again.

Recently, my wife has complained to me that she cannot log onto certain websites with her office computer. I asked her why. She told me that the technician has removed the Internet Explorer (IE) from her computer. Apparetly, she told the technician that she is facing some problems with her IE. So the technician simply just remove her IE and install Mozilla Firefox to 'so-called' solve her problem. Now she has greater problem. What the techician never realized is that websites written in ASP require IE to access. And with other browsers, you faced problems accessing these websites.

Furthermore, some of these technicians do not know what are they doing. These technicians simply just 'try-and-error.' They might just delete the wrong things, connect the wrong connection, etc. For example, there was this technician who try to relocate the scanner to another computer. And the scanner uses a SCSI cable which has similar connector to a parallel cable. And not realizing it, the tchnician DID NOT reinstall the SCSI card from the old computer to the new computer. He just plug the SCSI cable into the parallel port of the new computer causing the new computer to short-circuited.

{SIGH}

PLEASE GO FOR SOME TRAININGS BEFORE YOU REPAIR OUR COMPUTERS.

The Darkside of the Force - Episode I

2008-12-02T23:31:00.000-08:00

D E C E M B E R 3, 2 0 0 8

Three greatest inventions of the 20th century are the computer, Internet and cell/mobile phone. These three inventions have revolutionized our world and have brought changes in our everyday lifestyle. As if human can live without these three items. They have also improved our everyday life.

With the introduction of computers, our lives will not be the same again. We can be more accurate, more efficient and more effective in our works. The benefits brought about by computers are countless. However, there are countless drawbacks of the computers.

Instead of sport or outing, people are now glued to their sits, engaging themselves in the virtual arena fighting monsters and killing goblins. Furthermore, these online games allow players to communicate with others and 'fighting' each other. Players will just sit in front of the computers... not knowing day or night.... trying to 'win.' Some students will ignore their studies and so much so some of them play truant (staying away from school without permission) for the sake of playing computer games.... affecting their sudies.

Beside affecting their studies, sitting in fornt of the computers will also affect their health. Especially, some players will continue playing till midnight and without stopping or resting. This will cause tiredness to their eyes and lack of exercises. Playing computer games can be addictive. People addicted to games will spend much of time doing nothing useful.

FOR GOODNESS'S SAKE, GO OUT THERE, DO SOME EXERCISES AND START DOING SOMETHING USEFUL INSTEAD OF PLAYING GAMES....

Exam...

2008-11-30T23:53:00.000-08:00

D E C E M B E R 1, 2 0 0 8

One of the difficult being a lecturer, is to marking assignments and examination papers. However, in e-world, students will just cut-and-paste. They will just search the web for materials that related to their assignments. Then they will cut-and-paste the article onto their assignments.... Sometimes, they don't even care whether it is relevant or not. As long as it is related.... Furthermore, they may not read or understand the articles.

Some of the students don't want to submit their assignments ot tutorials. They think these assignments and tutorials worth 5% - 10% contribute small amount of marks to their course. I actually have some students who failed the subjects because they did not submit their assignments or tutorials. These assignments or tutorials contribute to a tiny fraction of the mark (5% - 10%).

About exam, I find that students don't read the exam questions carefully. Students tend to answer the questions wrongly. For example, 'How does Internet work?' When students answering this question, will normally write about 'What is Internet?' When students see the word 'Internet', they will write everything about 'Internet' and they don't see the requirement of the question. The former actually ask for the working of the Internet and not what is Internet.

Student also to leave the question blank. Students try to attempt the exam questions and should not leave them blank. Students should try to answer the questions. At least, this is a chance of getting the answer correct.

The biggest problem of all is the use and understanding of English. Sometimes, I have to spend plenty of time, trying to decipher what the students have written on the exam papers. Students tend to 'translate' other languages directly to English We cannot do direct 'translation.' Each language will have differet ways of writing or grammars. Further to this problem, students also tend to use 'messenger chatting' language to answer question. WE SHOULD THINK IN ENGLISH AND WRITE IN ENGLISH.