The Nature of Things

We need "Idols"

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 04:02:00 +0000

... not of the Singapore or American Idol singing sensation type but "idols" or role models of successful Malays that our young children can look up to and emulate. So here is one "idol" or role model I'd like to introduce to inspire our children and our Malay community, and I hope he and his family do not mind the sharing. It is meant for a good cause.

Photo by Michael Clayton-Jones taken from this site.

A Berita Harian commentator mentioned him in his article as "Duta" (ambassador) for maths, but there was no profile of who or what this person pictured above is all about.

At the time the picture was taken in 2005, Adib Surani was only 17 years old but he was the top student in the whole of Victoria, Australia. Adib Surani is Malay, Muslim and hailed from Singapore. The Age, an Australian paper regarded him as a Maths whiz, and that he is one of the top brains in maths in Australia for a child his age. Currently he is an undergrad with the University of Melbourne majoring in pure mathematics.

While in Singapore, Adib attended Raffles Institution. You may think that he is naturally and highly gifted, but I also believe that it is nurture that help him achieve remarkable performance in maths. What little I know about his family is that his parents, pious and God-fearing, also practice Glenn Doman on their children.

Just google Glenn Doman, and you can read about him and his methods of teaching children. In fact, there are various Singapore websites dedicated to parents who practice GD, and other methods on their children.

I was first introduced to Glenn Doman about ten years back when a colleague at that time, Encik AR lend me the book "How to multiply your baby's intelligence" by Glenn Doman. He said it really worked because his wife, late Aunty Z, who is a homemaker, practiced GD on their only son, and their son is a scholar with an Ivy League university.

Another Malay/ Muslim family I met about five years back also practice GD on their children. Their eldest daughter is a PhD holder, and one of their sons at that time was in a gifted education programme with Rosyth School.

There are other methods in teaching our young effectively not only GD, but I am introducing GD because of what I have seen happening to some families like Adib who practices them. GD can be hardwork for the parents but if one perseveres, the rewards though not seen immediately will bear fruits later.

Though I was introduced to GD, I did not persevere and practice it fervently as at the time my first son was born, I was a working mother who work erratic hours and I simply could not do the three times a day flashing of cards, though I made some of the cards myself. However I improvised, and played some flashcard games with my son during the weekends with him. My method was not GD, but sort of GD-like. As parents, we have to get creative in teaching our children since I cannot follow through the strict principles behind GD.

My son is not in the gifted education programme but at primary four, I think he is doing alright in his studies and we keep working with him on his maths and other subjects.

Now, my question is, if GD methods really work, and could potentially benefit some families, why not "Glenn Domanised" some of our education programme for our community? If not all, perhaps our preschools could also use some of GD methods in their curriculum.

We should have workshops and seminars for parents on GD on a large scale. We should purchase or make the materials to be used for our "at risk of failing" families. We should do it now, and we should get parents to prepare even when their child is in the womb.

The revolution has to start now! Just look at Adib. I'm sure we want success stories like him.

The equation is missing an 'algebra'

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 14:51:00 +0000

According to Berita Harian, 20 December 2009, the cause of Malay students underperformance in mathematics is attributed to the following:-

Lack strong foundation + Lack Parental Support + Lack discipline = Underperformance in maths

Understandably, there is truth to this equation but I felt that it is missing an additional 'algebra'.

We are quick to point out that many of those who lack strong foundation are those kids that were not sent to preschool, thus it is definitely the parents to blame for having such a lackadaisical attitude and for not having the mindset that early years learning is super important. Thus, it has been reiterated many times, and by every community leaders and even the media that parental interest, support, motivation and ambition are extremely crucial in nurturing the basic foundation in maths.

Now, I am just wondering for those who did not do well or have failed maths in this year's PSLE results, how many of these children did go to preschool - at least 2 to 3 years of preschool education? I would really be interested to know the numbers, and if possible even the preschools they attended.

Why am I curious to know?

I read a report on the best-performing school systems in the world, and it cited that the best-performing school systems emphasised the quality of its teachers and instruction (McKinsey, 2007). In other words, for every child to perform outstandingly and to succeed, these countries which include Singapore, do not underestimate the qualification of its teachers and the way subjects are taught by them.

Based on the above report, Singapore has one of the best-performing school systems in the world. However, I'm just thinking, whether this best performance trickle down to the early years schools ie. preschools. Our preschools, though regulated by MOE, do not have to come under its direct administration. And furthermore, I believe, by and large, besides PCF kindergartens, most of our Malay children attend preschools by private Malay-owned, Malay voluntary organisations and mosque-based kindergartens. I do not want to make baseless assumptions but I am just questioning whether in our Malay and mosque-based preschools, do we have truly qualified teachers and excellent instruction?

There is some kind of regulation that in each preschool there is at least a minimum number of teachers with early childhood diploma amidst the certificates. However, do we have teachers who have degrees - bachelors and masters in our Malay and mosque-based kindys? Do these teachers have continual professional development to enhance their teaching?

All this relate to another thing. Again, $$$.

You see, the fees for many Malay and mosque-based kindys are in the range of $90 to $130 per month, and yet many Malay parents cannot afford or lament that it is still expensive. How much can you pay your teachers if your school fees are such? How qualified can your teachers be if you are not able to pay your teachers well? And if your school fees are such, do you have quality curriculum and materials?

Now, if raising the school fees is not an attractive option, what else can be done to improve the quality of teachers and instruction in our Malay and mosque based kindys?

This is one area that our community leaders could and should look into. Beside all that I have mentioned above, the community leaders should also look into whether the preschools have the right pedagogy to teach early childhood maths in an effective and efficient manner?

In this time and age, the buzz word in the education sector is professional development. We need teachers who are highly qualified who go through various professional development courses so as to deliver quality instruction. Even if the curriculum is below par, a teacher with high qualification and excellent knowledge, pedagogy, capacity and instruction will be able to take one more child up the learning ladder.

And I hope I have many who will agree with me on this.

Let's look at a case study reported on the same newspaper on the same day. The paper reported a girl who failed her PSLE maths last year and had to repeat her primary six again this year. The equation on the headline for her looks like this:-

Don't Understand + Not interested = Not Passing.

According to the news report, Girl, who is 12 and shy, admitted that she does not understand what her teachers taught her, and as a result she is not interested in the subject. She has not gotten more than 40 marks since primary 3, meaning she has been failing the subject since then.

According to girl's mom, she is not able to teach her maths, but is able to motivate her to practice. She also buys her workbooks and encourages her to practice at least one page a day. However, girl still don't quite understand how to do her worksheets. Mom added that she sends girl to tuition classes by Mendaki and AMP, and extra classes in school.

It is without a doubt that if you don't understand something, you will not have interest in it. And if you have no interest, your mind will drift away while in class and you just don't do well in it.

Whether or not this child go to preschool, we do not know, but what we know is that her basic foundation in maths is totally weak. Her mom admitted that she does not have the skills to teach her child maths, but if this child keeps saying that she does not understand maths, despite the tuition at Mendaki, AMP and extra classes in school, what should we do? Should we keep pressing her to practice, practice, and practice without understanding?

Let's face it. This child needs help beyond mere practicing and parental motivation. Does she have good teachers and good instruction in her preschool, school and tuition classes? Her teachers must not only teach but need to assess her strengths and weaknesses and come up with appropriate strategies and instruction for her so that she is able to learn efficiently and effectively and thus leads to understanding the math.

Her parents could have done more when the child is not performing at p1 and p2 rather than wait till p3. By now, it may seem a little too late, but before we lose hope, let's try another 'untested' avenue.

There are already many educational centres that claim accelerated learning and some even advertise how the students who enrol in their programme is able to turn an "F" grade into an "A" grade. We hope her parents will be able to send her to such a programme. Eventhough there is no guarantee, there is the hope - the hope of a higher grade and the hope that the low self-esteem in herself and maths is lifted and she will be more positive and believe that she can and will score in maths. If money is a problem to send her kid to such a program as the cost is quite high, please seek help from your MP, and the MP must give it a try - either offer her the financial aid or get the centre to sponsor the child in their programme.

We need this sort of rags to riches story - from an F to an A grade, to boost the morale of our community as well as to boost our statistics. Thus, both equations must not miss out on the importance of teachers' quality and their instructions as well as curriculum and materials in our preschools.

Whose problem is it?

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 02:56:00 +0000

When I was doing my master in early childhood education in the year 2004, I had to write a paper based on a research project that I did. The paper "How to teach low-income Malay parents mathematics to their K2 children" was an unpublished report, but I gave a copy to Mendaki, as Mendaki assisted me and my research partner by giving us four families to research on.

I don't know whether the paper was ever read, or made any significant impact to Mendaki. Having four case studies is definitely not a significant sample size, but it was enough to draw some interesting conclusions. In fact, the families that we had to work with were not really low-income. At that time, they were known as the "new poor", a term coined by our community leaders to reflect those breadwinners who have lost their job during the economic downturn.

In my report, I also reported some previous research done by Mendaki, AMP and Sinda especially in the 80s. Apart from the similar problems like low income, low education, big family size, small flat, Sinda also reported structural problems in our education system. The report by Sinda, if I can remember correctly, was spearheaded by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

When Mr Tharman became the minister for education, I believed he made significant changes to the education policies. Perhaps it was his way of removing some of the structural problems that his team had identified in the report. I felt that during his reign, he actually created many new opportunities and paths for the diverse abilities and talents in Singapore. I believed he understood that "no on size fits all", and that not everyone is gifted academically and being talented in other areas like the arts and sports should be considered a gift as well. Now, by removing some of these structural problems in the education policies, Mr Tharman allowed low-attainers and low-scorers to have other avenues to move forward. He did not do it simply to create opportunities for his Indian community but for all low-achievers in this country. Now, the Indians have made significant progress in the range of 70% passes in mathematics but we have not. Why is that so?

Let's remove the racial categorisation for a while, and figure what should and could be done to these low-achievers. Isn't it a national problem rather than a racial problem eventhough the profile of these low-achievers are somewhat large in the Malay community? What should our ministry of education do to make the number of low-achievers small, and the drop-out rate even smaller?

Whose problem is it? A national or a racial one? Let's not even bother to point fingers but let's work on this education problem of the low-achievers together.

Let's think like Nadim

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 13:54:00 +0000

When I was a television producer some many years ago, I produced the drama series entitled 'Anak Metropolitan'. It's about our young who were involved in gangs.

This serie caused an unprecedented polemic in the Malay community. We were accused for airing our community's bobrok-ness publicly. It stirred our community leaders and our fellow Malay citizens and we were congratulated as well as fired for creating such a show. The show was not merely about our creativity but based on some research that we have done about our community. We showed what was really happening out there but our community could not accept the truth.

Now, sweeping things under the carpet is not going to solve the problem. And again, the hot news these days in the Malay press is about the state of bobrok-ness of some of our Malays. And it was not because of some television programmes, but the airing of grief by our minister for Malay/Muslim affairs, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim. He was grief-stricken at the tragic death of a young innocent child rotting near Kallang River and the bitter truth that our Malays are still underachieving in mathematics, and not sending their kids to preschools.

And of late, in order to balance the dirty linen of the community, Berita Harian has reported some news of success - like more Malay students going to post-secondary education and more Malay scientists in our midst. However, should we shout and rave about these? Are we still trying to mask our tragic shortcomings by proclaiming these minutiae successes as compared to the other races? I would probably rave about our Malay scientists but not about the higher rate of Malays in post-secondary education.

In the first place, when it is shown that there are more Malays in post-secondary education, what does this really mean? I may be wrong, but I think it meant there are more Malays who go to ITE instead of dropping out at secondary school. There is nothing wrong going to ITE but is this the kind of success that we should be really proud of when the other races have gone to secure higher than just bachelor degrees?

And also of late, another problem in the Malay community is the high incidences of dropping out at ITE.

Malays don't attend preschools, Malays drop-out at primary school, Malays drop-out at secondary schools and now dropping out at ITE. So what's the bottomline? Financial prblems? I dont think so. I believe some of these Malays are not resilient enough. Some of us just gave up too easily. And when the problems get tough, they blame it on the lack of money and what-have-you. Our leaders and self-help group are now dangling $$ to retain the ITE students in school, but I believe the problem is deeper than that. The problem is the mind.

We are not resilient enough. We are not kiasu enough. We believe that it is fate. We just don't think like Nadim.

This mindset is the cause of a lot of ills, and a lot of self-defeating beliefs in ourselves. We believe that we cannot do well in mathematics just because we are Malays. This has got to change, and it has to change really fast. We need a mental revolution! We need to brainwash and hynotize our Malays to revolutionise their thinking towards success. We need accelerated programs!

I've also read in the press about what community leaders planned to do - stepping up their efforts in tackling these issues. I don't want to seem cynical, but I would really like to know HOW are they planning to go about doing it. What does 'stepping up' their programs mean?

Because we have done it for over 20 years, and we have still not achieved the results that we wanted. Even if we don't compare ourselves with the Chinese who are way in front of us, but the Indians have done much better than us. What do we have to say to that? I'm sure they have similar resources but something is just not happening right with us.

Let's revolutionize our minds now!

Bobrok and goblok...

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 06:54:00 +0000

...are these words to define the state of some of our fellow Malays in our community? That is a tragedy indeed!

Dahlah bobrok with all the problems which used to be known as the triple D problems of the Malays - drugs, divorce and delinquency. These problems still existed though it was made known to us that statistically, the numbers have lowered but the problems have crept deeper into an almost bottomless pithole. The pithole that saw too many young marriages that were doomed to fail. And I can only guessed that perhaps these young marriages stemmed from the high incidences of teen sex, pregnancies and gangsterism prevalent among the 'unguided' young Malays, and the problems got deeper when innocent young children became victims of abuse and murder. Not to mention the "Orang Pantai" syndrome that mushroomed in East Coast and Changi beaches. With all these 'bobrok' issues, it is highly unsuspecting how 'goblok' some of our Malays are - 'goblok' in the area of education, specifically in the subject of mathematics (and also science, and the English language).

It could be that we are bobrok that's why we are goblok or it could be the other way around - we are goblok, that's why we are bobrok. And let me disclaim that it is not my intention to label or belittle the Malays. I am a Malay too and I'm saddened by this state of my own community.

Indeed, we have been in this state for a very long time. According to some, it started when we gave up our land to the British. But since I have no plan to research which history came first, it led me to think how far back our shortcomings began. This is the story of "Singapura Dilanggar Todak" where the Sultan of that time ordered the killing of the life of a young genius lad because of his own stupidity. In this fable or legend, I hope that this story is a fable instead, when Singapore's shores were attacked by swordfishes, the Sultan's so-called bright idea was to use the shin of his citizens to protect Singapore shores from the swordfishes. That led to the deaths of his many unquestioning and unthinking citizens. Then came a gifted and genius young lad by the name of Nadim who suggested to the Sultan to use the bark of a banana tree to line the shores so that the swordfishes got stuck to the bark instead. Unfortunately, the Sultan who listened to his evil adviser ordered the killing of Nadim.

What luck that this phenomenon existed still in this info- and nano-technology world that we lived today.

Are we still thinking like the Sultan?
Are we still thinking like his advisor?
Are we still thinking like his unquestioning and unthinking citizens?

Why can't we be thinking like Nadim?

Subhan Allah wa bi hamdihi

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:31:00 +0000

These are hadith from Sahih Bukhari, from this website. If only we open our hearts to the compassion and mercy of our Al-Mighty, Subhanallah. Wouldn't we be such losers not to know how easy it is to earn His love, mercy and compassion. Amin amin ya rabbal alamin.

Volume 8, Book 75, Number 414:
Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever says, 'Subhan Allah wa bihamdihi,' one hundred times a day, will be forgiven all his sins even if they were as much as the foam of the sea.

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Volume 8, Book 75, Number 415:
Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet said, "There are two expressions which are very easy for the tongue to say, but they are very heavy in the balance and are very dear to The Beneficent (Allah), and they are, 'Subhan Allah Al-'Azim and 'Subhan Allah wa bihamdihi.'"

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Volume 8, Book 75, Number 416:
Narrated Abu Musa: The Prophet said, "The example of the one who celebrates the Praises of his Lord (Allah) in comparison to the one who does not celebrate the Praises of his Lord, is that of a living creature compared to a dead one."

Longest Ramadan Buffet

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 01:10:00 +0000

I brought mom and dad to JB and decided to break fast at Danga Bay, under a white tentage that claims the longest Ramadan buffet in that area. They claim to have 88 dishes, however, at 6.30 pm they have not even put all the dishes out, probably only about 60% of the dishes were out. They also stagger or delay topping up some food for fear that it will be gone too soon too fast. Eventhough on every table there was a notice that a surcharge will be levied for leftovers, the customers still pile up their plates incessantly. And at the end of their break, there were many leftovers on the plates, and no charge levied. I believe the singer Mawi and his wife was there too but I was not too sure, as there was no fanfare to welcome him or anything. We ate in small portions, and even then we can't try all 88 dishes, if there were 88 dishes. There's just too much to digest in one sitting. We were mostly thirsty than hungry. We hopped over to the shopping centre to perform our solat, and later we headed to Singgah Selalu for my craving of lemang that I could eat for sahur. Last week, the lemang cost us RM8 but this week, they increase the price to RM10 for just one bamboo of lemang. After our car wash at Restoran Banafe which is opposite New York Hotel, we headed home via the Woodlands Causeway. The car wash at Banafe was only RM8 instead of RM15 at Singgah Selalu. The price in JB is really on the increase, isn't it?

The Night of Power

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:32:00 +0000

In the last ten nights of Ramadan, it was mentioned that one of the nights could possibly be the Lailatul Qadar. We do not know exactly when, but it was known to be an odd night. It is a night where one hopes that one's prayers would be answered by Allah swt.

Al Qadr

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

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إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ ﴿١﴾

1. Verily! We have sent it (this Quran) down in the night of Al-Qadr (Decree).

وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ ﴿٢﴾

2. And what will make you know what the night of Al-Qadr (Decree) is?

لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ ﴿٣﴾

3. The night of Al-Qadr (Decree) is better than a thousand months

(i.e. worshipping Allâh in that night is better than worshipping Him a thousand months, i.e. 83 years and 4 months).

تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِم مِّن كُلِّ أَمْرٍ ﴿٤﴾

4. Therein descend the angels and the Rûh [Jibrael (Gabriel)] by Allâh's Permission with all Decrees,

سَلَامٌ هِيَ حَتَّى مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ ﴿٥﴾

5. Peace! (All that night, there is Peace and Goodness from Allâh to His believing slaves) until the appearance of dawn

Beef Kofta

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:43:00 +0000

Doesn't look impressive isn't it? I wanted to attempt a thick curry but without coconut milk or evaporated milk, and ended up trying to make this beef kofta. However, I improvised it so much, that it became a bit sour maybe because I had added too much tomatoes and tomato paste. Would try again some day, maybe someday...when I feel more energy and more in mood to cook.

Sunset at West Coast Park

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:39:00 +0000

Beautiful, Subhanallah!

Tossing and sleeping...

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:11:00 +0000

At about 29/30 weeks of my pregnancy, I'm feeling tired and extremely sleepy all the time. Apart from tossing between the two books - one on baby, the other on Islam and religion, I could barely digest both of them. The thing is eventhough on days that I am not fasting, I still wake up for sahur, for the sake of hubby and Afzal. After sahur and solat subuh, I zonked back on bed, if it's even for half hour just to catch up on much needed sleep eventhough I had gone to bed at 8.30 pm the night before. When I woke up, I felt like I could still go on sleeping. My shoulder is aching, and my hands and feet felt like they are in need of some kneading and moulding.

I wish my baby in my tummy is having a good night sleep too cos if he is not sleeping right, I don't know if he is sleeping tight, and I don't want his sleeplessness to affect us later.

This Ramadan, I have been struggling with my fasting, not because I cannot 'tahan' but because I fear that baby will be underweight and that I'll get another scolding from the gynae. Afzal, on the other hand, has been very good with his fasting and solat, Alhamdullillah. I'm really proud that he has been doing his solat eventhough when we were not at home to monitor him.

Eventhough it is a one week school break, Afzal still goes to school for 3 days for his conversational Mandarin lessons, and when asked what he learnt, he conveniently said he forgets. But yesterday evening, he was spouting, "wa sher ma lai ren" (I am Malay). Other than that, we gave him his Nintendo game to play with apart from his fixation with facebook and computer-related games. He has also told me to print some primary four maths problem sums. He wants to try and attempt some of it. I think he is doing rather ok with his maths, but his other subjects could further improve.

With hari raya coming, I have not done anything yet. Except for some cookies that we bought at Simpang Rengam, Johor, I have not bought other stuffs. No baju raya for me this year, as I will not fit into one and hubby has also decided to just dorn some previous years' raya outfits. Only Afzal will have a new baju kurung this year. I have also not bought the cookie containers, not gotten a mattress for the Queen size bed in the other room, not packed my bag for the hospital, not bought any baby's stuff, not even think about what to cook for raya.

I'm totally zombied this year.

Understanding Islam

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 03:11:00 +0000

I bought this book when the author came to town but only managed to complete it last night, due to my own procrastination. It is very factual and insightful, even to a Muslim like me, whose knowledge of Islam is rather incompetent in many ways.

To a certain someone who was disillusioned about terrorism and feel that Islam is at fault in many ways, I can only say, read this book, especially the three chapters on Jihad. It was clear and succint, and even help to clarify the many questions I have in my own mind.

And contrary to media attention, Jihad is NOT defined as Holy War. And of course, this book is not just about jihad, but present the basic tenets of Islam in very easy to understand ways.

Well I can only say, read this book - Understanding Islam: A Guide for the Judaeo-Christian Reader by Jerald F. Dirks, cos only if you seek knowledge, then you will understand and make informed decisions.

For more information about the author and his books, click his website. For a detail account of his journey to Islam, click here.

The unofficial judge resides again

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 06:59:00 +0000

I did my own review of Anugerah 2007 and thought of doing it again after Anugerah 2009 last night.

Singapore-bred Sarah Aqilah won. Personally, it was a no-brainer decision, I believe even for the judges.

Based on their performance last night, you could literally put the four finalists, Chirul, Sarah Aqilah, Wawan and Kunjung on a spectrum of good to not-so-good, and the spectrum would be lined firstly with Sarah - the best to Kunjung, Wawan and Chirul - the least, without a shade of doubt.

When I first heard Chirul sang, I think he had a very unique and interesting voice. Even judge Zulkifli from 2 by 2 agrees with the unique tone of his voice. Having said that, he does lack in commercial value, and somehow does not seem to have confidence in his own ability to sing. Void of emotions and passion in his rendition, his singing seems lacklustre and 'lazy' at times, somewhat lost in the power-charged vocals and performance of the other finalists.

Wawan - I think he found his niche - wide open mouth and all-over-the-place- movement of his legs a bit ala Ferhad, but clumsy. Not sure whether he wants to be a rocker or a broadway performer, but performing ala broadway was definitely out for him. But he is an entertaining performer, and if he so wishes to 'perform' he should brush up his skills in some tuned, better choreographed and a bit more stylish dance steps or movements. Otherwise, he looks fuddy-duddy. His vocal prowess is in rock songs whether hard or rock ballads and I think that's where he could go far and command stage presence, which I kind of think he relishes the use of the stage a lot.

Kunjung - love her vocal capability and her stage presence. Personally, she is already a singer to boot, but she would not win Anugerah 2009 simply because she is not born and bred Singaporean. But nationalistic sentiments aside, Kunjung's package is not of the girly lass or sexy sweet young thing that is so part of this industry but then again, she is a great singer and will be much received by Singaporeans if she had earned her prize back in her own hometown.

Sarah Aqilah, well, slim, pretty, marketable and has the voice. What more can you ask for in this type of industry? Our music industry in Singapore is so lacking in such slim pretty lass with the big voice and suddenly here comes Sarah Aqilah. Most of the lasses here that have big voices also comes in big packages, I mean sizes, and though it is NOT wrong to believe that talent is what it should be, the reality is, it is NOT the case. Sarah Aqilah's strength seems to be in slow ballads with the high pitched chorus or ending ala Ziana Zain, but I wish to see her in other renditions and genres as well. She also needs a better makeover of her hair as well as rebranding herself to continually rise in this industry. But please, please do not brown or blonde the hair too much like some other singers have done. It just seem so unsexy and unappealing. Keep it black and sassy. I believe she will be one Singaporean Malay singer that could go a little farther than where the rest of our female singers were not able to venture to if she continues to rebrand, reimage, and reposition herself in this industry.

And so the unofficial judge rests...

Part 2 of good riddance!

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:32:00 +0000

I used to have loads of containers of these - containing my era in television production, even manual like the "basic television production course" when I first started my career with tv production to scripts of various dramas and variety shows, to newspaper clippings of whatever news that made it to the papers regarding the shows or the celebrities. I have since downsized my stuffs to only one container load, but I am going to get rid of this container load as well. It's time to say goodbye to my past era, and move on... as the saying goes again, "the value of me is in me, not in my stuffs"....

Goodbye to old stuffs...!

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:26:00 +0000

This is the first part of my 'getting rid of stuffs' - my loads of vhs tapes, in which some have turned mouldy and I am not going to be sentimental about it. These are tapes of the shows that I have produced - namely sandiwaras (yes even from sandiwara eras), Malay dramas, Fashion Unlimited, The Home Show, Anugerah, Pesta Perdana, Teater Komedi, Hari Raya Shows and the list goes on. I am going to embrace the saying that "the value of me is in me, not in my stuffs." Goodbye to old stuffs...!

Mountain Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:20:00 +0000

I discovered this mountain bread while at Cold Storage. It's a thin layer of dough that is made from organic wheat, so it feels healthy. I bought the bread and created my own filling. So here is my shawarma-inspired mountain bread. The filling I had was capsicum, chopped tomatoes and cucumber, sliced lamb and cheese wrapped in mountain bread and I heated it in my toaster oven. Yummy! Even my little boy Afzal loves it.

Toasted Omelette

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:05:00 +0000

I got this simple idea from the internet, and I decided to try it out this morning. I had eggs beaten with salt and pepper. I added chopped tomatoes, sausage and roasted potato (from two days ago), and I toasted them all in this sandwich toaster.

And the verdict is great. Hubby likes it, and one omelette toast was quite filling already. I had it with chilli sauce. Not bad for something quick, fast and deliciously healthy, I hope. I'm sure I can experiment this further with other fillings.

So this was my breakfast morning...!

My healthy dinner?

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 01:57:00 +0000

This is what I had last night. My concoction of pasta with olive oil, garlic, crushed peppers, chopped boneless chicken and squid rings. I added the roasted vegetables from dinner the day before. I know pasta is high on carbo, but this was like my only carbo (I think) that day. In the morning, I had a wholemeal sandwich with roasted vegetables + 1 chopped sausage + low fat cheese toasted, and for lunch, I had yong taufoo with tom yum soup.

Hopefully it's healthy enough since I have to be on a low sugar, low carb diet due to my pregnancy.

Decluttering

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 03:40:00 +0000

At the little corner of my office table is my little 'pantry' corner, so- called 'hidden' by a Japanese-motif divider. Place on a round red IKEA mat are my water bottle, a mug, a small tissue box, a scented candle, a lavender body cream, a dice, a christmas gift and an empty Starbucks cappucino bottle. And I know that I don't have a need for at least five of the items to be there.

I have a little project in mind, well, not just in mind, but I have to get to doing it. I need to declutter our bedroom that has been converted into a storage room at home. You see, we don't have a storeroom so everything else that are not needed are being chucked in that room. We have halved the excess baggagge after every move from one rented house to the next but the clutter is still there. We need to make space for a queen size bed and also for the arrival of our baby number #2, so that's why the decluttering is all important.

For me, I have sentimental attachment to some of my earlier works in television that I have loads of scripts and video tapes. And I am not even sure those video tapes work anymore, but I still keep them. Another thing of value are container loads of pictures that have not found its place on photo albums. I have books - loads, on early childhood that I know will always be useful and I also have games and flashcards that I have made for my firstborn that can be used again on my second born.

My hubby, on the other hand, is a 'karung guni'. However, once he collects all the newspapers, papers, cans and whatever metal, he will recycle them. The thing is he needs 'a lot' of those things before he recycles them. So it piles up.

I have to start this weekend again to divide the items into 1) OUT (RECYCLE, DONATE, SELL, THROW) and 2) IN (will be used) 3) IN (too sentimental to throw but not very useful of now and therefore, what should I do about it?)

This weekend is gonna be a big headache! As the saying at the corner of my table beside my phone goes "Just take one step outside your self. The whole path lasts no longer than this step." Ni'matullah Wali.

I certainly hope so!

My Little Office Space

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:58:00 +0000

Yesterday, I had a spring cleaning of my own little cubicle in my office, perhaps after an overdose of watching Clean House during the weekend on The Style Network. Finally, I filed all those things that needed filing and also chucked and shredded unwanted documents. Even my drawers were spruced up a little.

Here's my little office, and my little DIY curtain that I so needed if I just do not want to be disturbed. But my office is always open and welccome to almost everyone. I only closed it when I wanted to solat or when I wanted to just have a quiet lunch.

Behind this metal cabinet is a little sanctuary for me to have my quiet moment with the Al-Mighty. But of course, that little mess of piled-up files are those of completed projects that needed to be archived. So needed to be archived!!!

Here's where I place my solat mat, tucked away behind a metal cabinet that provided a little private space for some quiet time. I'm glad that there is this little sanctuary. :)

As the saying goes, 'The best direction to take in life is towards Allah...'

For my Father on father's day

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 06:30:00 +0000

Father's day is often so underrated compared to any other occasions. Maybe because men are less likely to remember or celebrate events.

My father, whom I affectionately call Father, is one who does not bother about such events. But sometimes he is a funny guy. Eventhough Father claims that 16th March, which is his birthday is not in the calendar, he will keep reminding us about it that we will always remember. Coincidently, there are three March babies in the family, and his birthdate coincides with my brother-in-law. So despite 16th March not being in the calendar, it has been celebrated with quite vigour.

Anyway, Father is flying to Perth this Saturday to visit my sister in her new city, so he will not be celebrating father's day wth us.

As compared to Mak who is the organiser and the budgeter (you can call Mak - minister for home affairs, finance etc) Father is the lepak King. Well, maybe he is tired, having been the sole breadwinner for 7 of us for the whole of his working life. At the same time, Father has corny humour and jokes that you would probably crinched at instead of laugh and somehow I have a strange feeling that my son is picking up that humour.

One thing about Father is that, eventhough he is strict, he is not very strict. Well, at least I think he gave me opportunities to be independent and do whatever I want. Maybe he knows that I know my limits. Eventhough I am a girl, I've never felt that Father treated me less equally than boys. Father has given me opportunities to travel alone on the aeroplane since I was 15 as far as to London. Maybe he knows that a relative will be waiting for me on the other land. He has also given me opportunities to travel to Perth, Melbourne, Christchurch as well as my Europe tour with close friends, of course on my own account but free airline tickets from him. Father is one of the pioneers with SATS.

When I wanted to resign from my producer job in Singapore because of an offer in Kuala Lumpur, Father was very supportive. Mak was concerned. She was concerned that I already had a good job here and that living in KL alone may not be such a good idea. Father told me that even if it didn't work out in KL, come back and he can still support me my basic needs. I went to KL, worked and came back. Father and mak were always there for me, in times of good and bad.

From another perspective, Father is also a very relaxed person. He would rather chill out on his bed or on mak's tasty snacks than be involved in entanglements with relatives. But I also know that he has a very sensitive soul at times.

My Father does not have a large family. Besides his late parents, he has only one elder sister who has since departed. When his own dad left his mom, she was the only person that he is affectionate with. I remembered visiting my late grandmother's grave (my Father's mom) about two or three years back and Father would talk about his mom affectionately to us with glistening eyes.

When I first got married, he even suggested to me and my husband to find an apartment in the same block so that he says, "we can always come for dinner, and that he can always look out for our kids," also with glistening eyes. We were touch by his gesture for us to be close but some decisions had to be made about our own home. Eventhough we were not in the same block, but we were never far from each other's heart.

Father has never insisted that I have to follow tradition but I know he values basic Islamic values that are not peppered with culture. He also value simple things like respect, love, humility and good company. But most importantly, he values his own family - us - a lot.

To Father, have a happy, happy father's day in Perth. May you have good health and a good life ahead of you. May Allah bless your every deed, and though I may not be able to repay you for everything that you have done for me, I am eternally grateful for you are my Father. And do remember, another soon-to-be-cucu is waiting for you here ...

Another Maid Saga...

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Tue, 12 May 2009 02:40:00 +0000

You can't judge a book by its cover. Either I'm a poor judge of character or I would like to believe that everyone has good in them, rather than thinking that they are bad.

The maid was sent back to the agent on Sunday.

She is my second maid after my first one finished her contract and went home. This new one is 23, single, looks mild, meek and very quiet and has been working with me for nearly five months. She even wears the tudung when she goes out.

Though she is mild, meek and a very quiet tudung-wearing domestic helper, I'm begining to have doubts about her ability to retain and process information, as well as to perform some routine daily duties with a bit more meticulousness. How long should I train a new maid to get the ironing correct and smooth at least? Let's just abandon the idea of cooking for now. She can't even communicate with my son, because her personality is simply too quiet.

To cut a long story short, she has been using the handphone that is for home use and for going out with my son for her own personal use, to call a man that she is madly in love with back in her hometown. When an sms came from the man, and I was home that day, she denied vehemently that she didn't know who that was, and that was the first time such an sms came.

I called the number and told the guy on the other end that if he is not her father or her husband or her brother, and if there is nothing important, there is nothing to talk to her about.

I was angry for she has misused my personal property as well as my trust. But when I told hubby I wanted to send her back, hubby advised me to think first, as it has implications on us especially on our child care arrrangement before the next maid arrives. I can't take a transfer maid immmediately until my current one gets a new employer.

So she stayed another day on Sunday, eventhough I have asked her to pack.

On Sunday, when we went out, we reminded her to take care of the house and not go anywhere. I was still annoyed, but I know I had no choice. By the time we came back at about 1 plus in the afternoon, she was not at home. Hubby immediately said, "once she comes back, we'll send her back to the agent." We felt disbelief that this mild, meek and quiet tudung-wearing girl is daring enough to defy simple orders.

She came back 5 minutes later, and looked extremely horrified and started crying dramatically. She said she was merely downstairs buying bread as she was hungry. There was food in the house, and she needed to go down to buy bread. Her reasoning was she was afraid to eat my food which I had never, not even when I was angry, denied her of food. She dramatically bowed down to my feet to ask for forgiveness. I just told her, "I don't want this nonsense. Go and eat your bread."

We sent her back immediately. From a light backpack, hers is now full to the brim with extra plastic bag. I don't want to be picky by asking her to return the clothes that I had given her, but if I had known the truth of what she had done, I might have just done that.

She left her diary. And it contains all the details of how she had been trying to get in touch with that guy since February. The guy is not exactly her boyfriend but who she is madly in love with, and whom she had given her virginity to and finally she managed to contact him on 6 March on my handphone. And I have been fooled by her for more than 2 months and yet she was crying and denying vehemently that was the first time ever the sms came. What a load of bull!

Of mak and motherhood...

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Fri, 08 May 2009 06:49:00 +0000

At 24, when most of my mates were tying the knot, I never had a real boyfriend.

At 25, when they started having their firstborn, my mak was worried - worried that I would never find a boyfriend, let alone a husband.

At 26, I told myself that I’ll resign to being matched if I’m still single by the time I reached 30. I guess it didn’t happen – the matchmaking that is.

I tied the knot at 27.

It was all happening so fast, and before I knew it, I was pregnant within the first month of my marriage. It was not gelojoh, as some may think, but it was my clueless attempt at using the rhythm method.

My pregnancy was not smooth sailing. The nausea that came in the evenings after work went on for nearly 80% of the 9 months I was carrying my firstborn. My energy level dived to minus degrees, and my zest for work and life was almost non-existent. My vomiting bouts made me sick and lethargic, and I was down with fever, flu and cough. I never knew pregnancy was going to make me this ‘sickly’, and I wondered how our mothers and their mothers before them did it, especially when they had many children of their own to create a football team.

Before my baby was born, I promised to breastfeed, as it has been hailed as the best thing that a mum can give her child. There are so many benefits of breastfeeding that I had read up, and even though I came across words like ‘engorgement’, it didn’t mean much until it happened to me. No one told me that breastfeeding was going to be an uphill task. The engorgement left me so sore and helplessly in pain. My baby's inability to latch or my inability to make him suck makes me felt like a failure. He was crying, and I was helpless. It was so difficult and trying. I cried. I was depressed within the first two weeks of having my first son.

It didn’t help that my baby had long crying bouts at night. He was not colic, and not even mak knew what was wrong with him. It drove everyone in the house crazy. We were sleepless with his every 15 minutes of wakefulness and constant crying. It gave hubby and me migraine from the lack of sleep. At one time, my husband nearly shook our baby and shouted at him. I was shocked at our inabilities, incapacities. It left me stoned and zombied and I was feeling how unfit we were as parents, how useless I was as a mother.

After two months at my parents’ place, we moved to our new home, hoping to start a new life. But I felt alone when hubby went to work, eventhough baby was with me. When my baby cried non-stop, and no amount of coaxing could stop him, again I felt distressed and helpless. I called mak and cried over the phone. I didn’t know what was wrong with him, and I didn’t know what to do.

After I talked to mak, I managed to calm my dear baby down, and started to calm myself down too. I called mak and told her that she did not have to come to see me. But mak and father assured me that they will visit me the next day. They did. As much as they were bewildered at first, they were also amused at what a goondu I was at something so naturally simple. Is motherhood really naturally instinctive? If it is, I do not have the genetic make-up for this.

That first hari raya with baby, as I salam my mak to kiss her hand, I caught everyone by surprise, even myself. I cried in front of mak and told her how much this whole experience taught me about mak’s experiences of being a mother and motherhood. It made me feel truly appreciative of the experiences my mak must have gone through when she was having me and all her other children. I guess you never knew how it really feel and must have felt unless you go through it yourself, experiencing all the myriad of emotions that came with being pregnant and having a child. I am blessed to have gone through it because I feel that I will be arrogant and emotionless of the feelings of a mum – struggling to manage her children and her life if I had not become a mom myself. It was truly, truly humbling and no words can describe my feelings of motherhood, and the connection with what mak might have gone through. No matter how old I am, I knew I will always be her baby because I am always in need of her wisdom, her strength, her determination, her love, her stoicness and so much more.

To mak, “Happy mother’s day, thank you for everything. I will always love you.”

A beautiful gift

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Mon, 04 May 2009 06:56:00 +0000

I was 37 two days ago. Short of three that makes me 40. Looks like a big number eh?

But I'm happy, I supposed. Happy to be older and wiser, and as a cousin reminded me, I'm another year closer to the graveyard. Somehow, that did not give me the chill, but a nice reminder to me to be good, and do good to what could possibly be left of my time on earth.

I had a good meal with my dearest hubby and favourite son at Carousel. I used to be able to eat till I'm full but I just can't that evening. Perhaps I am happy with the company, and I am full of love given to me by the very people I care and love very much.I'm blessed.

I'm further blessed that He had bestowed me a beautiful gift - for me and my family. We are happy, we are contented, and we continually seek his blessings for the beautiful gift.

The gift of which we will announce in due course...

Be!

noreply@blogger.com (Afzalmom) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 06:42:00 +0000

The positive signs are there, but I just did not want to interprete it that way...

As it stated in the Quran, if Allah says "Be!" It will be!

I guess Allah has said "Be!" to me... :)