EARTH HOUR 2009

I'm a proud participant of this year's Earth Hour. Not just me, but Iqie and Afeeq too. It was on Saturday, 28 March 2009. The Sun reported the event. The response was overwhelming actually.

On that day, Hubby was not home (car fixing-related job), so there were just us - Mummy and sons. As usual after his bath, Iqie had his dinner. So did Afeeq. So all of us were mentally prepared for the black-out hour (well... maybe I was the only one!). A little before 8.30 pm, I already switched off all lights in the house. Iqie was confused for a while... "Oh no!" Then... "Mummy, light no? Mummy, no light?" How do you explain to a 2-year-old that Mummy was voting for Earth ;)

The telly was on, so that was fine with Iqie. Afeeq was cool. Instead of switching off the lights for an hour, we ended up being in the dark for 2 hours. We didn't mind. It was kinda fun for me and Iqie.

You know what, I think we're going to do this Earth Hour on a regular basis. Iqie and I don't have to wait for a year for another Earth Hour. I think we can do this bi-monthly. I guess that's just a little thing that I can do to contribute to this good cause. But as Hubby jokingly pointed out in his email when I sent him the details of this event - what's the difference with the lights off when we have the fridge, washing machine, telly, air-cond, etc. on?? Heheheheheee... how to answer that??

ieja

VOTE EARTH - LIGHTS OFF PLEASE!!

Dear all,
I'm voting for our Earth. Please switch off your lights for 1 hour (only) to show your support. We need this!! Please spread the words.

ieja

The Use of English in the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics and Science

I have to say that I'm very disappointed with what had happened over the weekend. The Star published the news. I am not being bias here and I am not judging. Don't say that because I was educated overseas I would definitely agree that English should be used. That is definitely not the case. I agree that English should be used because of many reasons.

Firstly, to use English to teach and to learn Maths and the science subjects would definitely not dethrone Bahasa Melayu (or is it Bahasa Malaysia now - I just can't keep track of the correct term used as it had changed so many times!!). You can't "mertabatkan" the Malay language by using it to teach those subjects. How can u do that if the terms used in Maths, Biology, Physics and Chemistry are taken from English. It's not like we have all the words in Malay... duuhhh...

If you want to "mertabatkan" the Malay language, start at home and the media. Those are the biggest influencers. If you can tackle those two - half of the language problem solved!

To me, the whole point of using English to teach and learn Maths and the science subjects is for us to be able to conquer the wealth of information that contains in those subjects. It's totally not because of the language - it has never been because we want the students to master the language. Mastering the language is just the secondary aim. If you can, hey it's good for you.

I think I've addressed this enough in my previous entry here.

ieja

A DAY OF FUN

Last Wednesday, Hubby and I purposely took a day off. We had promised to date as much as possible, even if it means taking a day or two off ;) So far the plan went well...

Anyway, that Wednesday we woke up a bit late leaving Iqie and Afeeq under the care of our super-efficient helper. After breakfast cum a hearty lunch, we made our way to Flamingo Hotel on Jalan Ampang. No... it's not what you're thinking!! We actually went bowling instead of going for a movie. Why...? Why not... like watching movies, it's been ages. So we thought... why not.

And you know what... we had the best time of our lives. After so many years... we giggled, we laughed, we teased each other. Hubby is still bad at spares, and I'm still bad at strikes... heheheh we really had fun - reliving our courting days.

It is something that we would definitely do again and again... I wonder what is next in our list.

ieja

OF ABANG IQIE

My eldest son - Iqie is 2 years and 3 months old. He's very active and likes to play with his toy cars a lot. He's quite talkative... well... compared to his cousin sister who is 3 weeks older then him.

So far, we managed to use English (I would say 95%) when we talk to him. And he understands us very well. We also managed to chart his progress in terms of his speech development on videos. Looking back at how he grows from one-word speech to two-word speech and now three-word speech or more - he amazes us. It's amazing how children pick up when we put effort in teaching them things.

At one stage, Iqie would just point his finger and say "there... there..." if he wanted to go to the living room or if he wanted me to go somewhere. After some time he acquired more words and would say "Mummy... there...". Then "Mummy... there... telly". Then "Iqie watch telly". He would also say things like "Mummy go there eat", "Daddy vroom car". But my all time favourite - "Afeeq... no..." when Afeeq puts his fingers in his mouth, and "Good boy Afeeq..." when Afeeq takes out his fingers out of his mouth. He says it ever so lovingly... it makes me melt...

With his understanding of his Mummy and Daddy's conversation, we can't actually say "go out" sparingly. He will pick it up and will quickly reply "Iqie go out... there" pointing at the front door and immediately taking off his pants and shirt (expecting us to change him). Hubby and I really have to use those two words carefully. Otherwise, we'll end up walking him around the house...

ieja

EMOTIONALLY TIRED

I've been working hard for the past two months. One of the reasons was because I had to organise and conduct a 3-day workshop for a client that my company considers as a tough one. Subsequently, I have to present the outcome of the workshop and write a blueprint for the client.

I haven't been sleeping well as my time was consumed mostly preparing for the workshop. Great detail and thought were put in the design of the workshop (the itinerary, the content and the activities), the templates and the worksheets provided. The quality of those was also our major priority. Alhamdulillah, the workshop went very well with the Deputy Director commented that she was happy with it. What made me more proud was the fact that the CEO of my company recognised this and had asked all future workshops to be benchmarked against ours.

But, I haven't got the chance to catch up on my sleep. A few weeks before the workshop and during the workshop, I only slept for about 3 hours every night. I still feel tired and my back still hurts. After the workshop, the writing part began, and I was also assigned with other things. My sleep is being sacrificed again. I just don't know when I would be able to sleep peacefully again - going to bed without having to think about work.

I also notice that I frown more than before. That is not a good sign to me - I rarely frown. I really need to sort out my professional life, or else it will affect my personal life. My personal life is too precious for me to be disturbed. I really have to do something...

ieja

ABANG IQIE AND ADIK AFEEQ (2)

Afeeq is now 4 months old. How time files. After going back to work, I have been kept busy with all the work and deliverables for the project I'm in. Sometimes, I feel guilty for not paying enough attention to both Iqie and Afeeq... and to Hubby too. But somehow, I try my best to make it up to them. I have my ways ;)

But what I want to record here is how surprise I am with Iqie. His love for his little brother is very obvious. Every night before he goes to sleep, he will lie beside Afeeq and kiss him on his cheek. And that is not enough to him. He then will "salam" his little brother's hand (not once, but many many times I tell you!) and kiss him again on the face (not just the cheek anymore). He will then place his face really near to Afeeq, before going to sleep - holding Afeeq's hand. I am touched at his display of love towards his little brother.

Learning for my son, I make it a routine to kiss both Abang and Adik before they go to sleep. I also pray that this display of love and affection will not stop and that it will continue until both of them grow up.

ieja