Featured in Oh! Media - 7 May 2015

-
There is a factual error in one of the images in this article.
The image is of an article in the alumni magazine of my alma mater. I have addressed the error here.
In the image, it says that my school is 3 hours from the nearest town which is wrong. We are 1 hour from the nearest town, Song, & 3 hours from the nearest city, Sibu.
On Thursday, 7 May 2015, I was featured in an article on Oh! Media. I never knew what Oh! Media was until their post about me went viral. I thought that they were just a small internet periodical which wanted to help share the plight of my school. I never knew they had such a large following.

From the beginning, they said that they wanted to highlight the point that there is a Chinese guy teaching in the jungle which is unimaginable to their Malay majority audience. I told them that I wasn't the only guy teaching at my school but they could only write about me if they mentioned my Malay, Chinese & Iban colleagues who are struggling together with me if not more.

I admit the title & the article is mostly centred on me with a mention of my colleagues & the situation at my school. I could not advise them to revise the article because I was at school during that time & I had extremely limited access to internet. I was dependent on an erratic GPRS connection which had trouble even downloading Whatsapp text. Also, I had to be my own mobile tower at certain hotspots at the school. By the time I got to reading the article in my hotel room in Sibu last night, it had already gone unbelievably viral.

I want to stress here that I AM NO HERO. I'm just a glorified typist sitting on my bum while my colleagues are outside running the mini generators & water pumps as well as carrying buckets of water up several flights of stairs up to their quarters. My blog post & the Oh! Media article went viral NOT BECAUSE OF ME. It went viral because people were concerned & they cared enough to spread the word about the situation. PEOPLE CARED!

I can proudly say that it is the MALAY teachers in my school from PENINSULA Malaysia who are working the hardest to make the situation better for ALL. I will highlight these TRUE heroes on my blog soon. But, I only have Friday & Saturday in Sibu to use broadband internet before I return so you might have to wait. Also, I have to ask their permission to use their names.

Once again, let me emphasise that I AM NOT THE ONLY TEACHER at my school. There are many more of various ethnicities. I AM NOT THE BEST TEACHER at my school. There are many who are better than me in many ways. Finally, MY SCHOOL IS NOT THE DEEPEST IN THE JUNGLE. There are plenty more which are far deeper & more challenging to get to.

I believe that ALL teachers should be celebrated REGARDLESS of where they teach whether it be in the cities, jungles or anywhere in between. It is a fallacy to believe that a school less deep in the interior is less challenging or a school in the city is less challenging. Each teacher has his/her own set of challenges. We need to encourage & support ALL of them.

Now, I want you to think of a teacher that you know. Take out your phone. Write a short encouraging message to him/her. Send it. I know many teachers who work day & night for years without an ounce of recognition or appreciation. Your message might be the only encouraging message that the teacher has received in YEARS even when he/she has been giving his/her best! So, what are you waiting for? DO IT NOW!


p/s: They have kept the article pegged at the top of their Facebook page since 7 May 2015. Thanks, guys!
Tugas guru bukan sesuatu yang mudah. Walaupun terpaksa tinggal jauh dipedalaman, namun semangat mendidik anak bangsa...
Posted by Oh! Media on Wednesday, 6 May 2015

Popular posts from this blog

What To Do When Your Unifi Service Suddenly Drops

-
Image
After finally putting my kid to sleep, I was about to settle into the couch with my wife & stream a movie, when my Unifi fiber optic internet connection suddenly dropped. When it didn't come back after 1 hour, I realized that I had to do something. Considering that I pay my bills promptly every month, it must be a technical issue. Here's what I did to fix the problem. It look me less than 20 minutes. 1. First, I checked my modem (the white machine). I checked the lights on the modem. When the modem is functioning properly, lights will be on for POWER, PON, LAN1 & TEL1. If the red light for LOS lights up, call 100 to resolve the issue. Also, I made sure that all the wire connections were tight. 2. Next, I checked my router (the black machine). Again, I checked the lights. When the router is functioning properly, lights will be on for POWER, GLOBE, WIFI, LAN1. My POWER light was blinking, so that means that there was no internet connection. Again, I made sure th
Open Full Post »

Understanding The New SPM (2021) English 1119 Paper Format

-
Image
This outline & those of other SPM language papers were made publicly available on the Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia (LPM) website . I'm sure you've seen the above being circulated on the internet. But, what does it mean? How does this paper compare to the current SPM paper for English? Do we have to change our testing practices in Form 4? At this moment, information is sparse despite great public interest. As the head of the English panel at my school, my Form 4 colleagues will come to me for what to do & parents will ask me what this is about. Until we have very specific instructions from the ministry, this is what I will be telling my colleagues & parents based on the limited amount of information available to me from my intimate experience with the current SPM paper & second-hand information about the PT3 English paper. Let me know if I got anything wrong or if you have more detailed information.
Open Full Post »

The Millennial Trains Project: A Transcontinental Conference On Tracks

-
Image
from millennialtrain.co Whoever designed this cabin is a genius!       I am very honored to announce that I will be one of the 50 millennials accepted into the very selective  Millennial Trains Project  (MTP). This year, there are 2 journeys with 25 participants each: Change & Unity . Basically, the MTP is a whole new way to conference. Participants take part in talks & workshops from distinguished mentors inside a metallic retro train slowly moving across the US. We'll be able to pick the best minds in the US. Furthermore, the train will also make several stops along the way where participants will get the chance to learn from local leaders/organisations as well as run a personal project during those stopovers. My project involves going to  Pittsburgh ,  Chicago ,  Albuquerque ,  Kansas City , &  Los Angeles : 1) Learn about efforts to bridge disparities in education with at-risk communities (low income, minority, refugee, immigrant, etc). I will visit ind
Open Full Post »

How To Fix Logitech Options Not Loading

-
Image
I use a Logitech K380 bluetooth keyboard at home & love it to bits. Very quiet & the tactile response is just perfect. Also, it's super small so easy to put away when I need to pile exam papers on my desk. Still, there's one small problem though... It is a compact keyboard so the multimedia buttons double as function keys. I use the function keys A LOT & it's really cumbersome for me to have to hold the "fn" button every time I want to use them. I.e., try pressing alt+fn+f4 with one hand. Thankfully, with the Logitech Options software, I can default to the function keys. A few months ago, I was chagrined to learn that my keyboard had spontaneously returned to factory settings. "No problem", I thought. "I'll just change the settings in Logitech Options." Only to find that the app wouldn't load on my Windows 10 machine, resulting in the blank window you see screen-captured above. "Let me try reinstalling." Uni
Open Full Post »

Salam Aidilfitri

-
Image
taken from nizam83.wordpress.com Eid ul-Fitr is Arabic for 'festivity for the breaking of fasting'. Those of you who have no idea should really click to read about it from Wikipedia . Any Malaysians who have no idea what I'm talking about should really go & jump from the tallest building you can find. Seriously. Shoutout to my IPBA-rian dudes & dudettes! Shoutout to my Kuching futsal kakis & buddies & buddettes! Shoutout to my fellow bloggers! Shoutout to all you Malayisans studying overseas! Finally, a shoutout to the Muslims in Malaysia! You guys, enjoy the festivities! Being the inspirational & influential & responsible & great teacher I am, I'll be here in the middle of nowhere watching over my wide-eyed & innocent students as they study for SPM & PMR. Sorry for not sending any SMSes, ya? No line mah! Can save money oso! hehehe~~ I'll be back at home on Monday evening & will be visiting my Muslim fr
Open Full Post »