Pictures Of My House In The Jungle

-
Even in remote areas, you have these standard JKR quarters
so it's really not that bad if the living quarters are well maintained.

If you want to be a teacher in Malaysia, you can expect to be placed in a rural or remote school for your first posting just like I was. But it doesn't have to be a complete torture. It's actually a wonderful opportunity to experience the best part of being a teacher = changing lives & making a real difference. Believe me, there is no greater sense of satisfaction than when you see a child you've worked with so hard & so long excel in their examinations. There are no tuition centres here so you can go to bed with a smile knowing that the achievement has it's roots in you. Let's not forget the beauty of nature & the fresh smog-less air.

When I arrived here many years ago, I knew that I had to root myself at the school for at least 4 years in order to see the change that I can make in the school. That's exactly what I did. I didn't run off home every weekend like some of my colleagues did. I stayed back some weekends to spend time with the children. It's a better use of my time anyway because my school is very far away from home.

Every year, I spend 300 days out of 365 days at school. Since I live here most of my days, I invested heavily in turning this bare quarters into a swinging bachelor's pad. I bought thousands worth of furniture & household items from places like IKEA in KL & furniture/lamp shops in Sibu to make the place reflect my ideal evil-genius HQ. My home is a reflection of my personality. I needed a place which feels like home & just being there recharges my batteries.

Without further ado, I present to you the pictures of my house in the jungle:

This is where I write my blogs & entertain myself.



My housemate's workstation.
Notice the Pua Kumbu. It was a gift from a student's mom. She made it herself & I proudly had it framed.

My kitchen.
I have an coffee machine for those mornings where extra motivation is required.
I grind the coffee beans myself too for the best aroma.

Dining area.
I have a bread maker for the best wholemeal bread ever.
It's way better than anything you can get at the bakery. Trust me.

My bedroom.
I bought & carried a Dunlopillo mattress to school so that I could get better sleep at night.
I've also decorated it with personal photographs & newspaper cuttings.

Even if you are placed in the middle of the jungle, your living conditions do not need to resemble that of a jungle hermit. Don't let your environment change you. You can change your environment.

As teachers, we are rarely placed in comfortable situations. Often, to do what is right & what is best for our students, we need to juggle with politics, red tape & protocol before we execute the actual task itself. It's not easy. It can get really exhausting & discouraging. But, every time I come home, I feel revived as I soak in the ambience of my home just like how Superman flies up into the stratosphere to absorb the warmth of the sun. Soon, I am ready to tackle wicked problems again.

What to make a difference? To me, it all starts at home. Put in some effort to make your living quarters an extension of yourself. Once your home away from home is in order, you have a great starting point from which to spread the change you want to see outwards into the whole school & beyond. You might just begin to see a whole new level of breakthrough & sense of satisfaction once you begin to do so.

Have you put in effort to make your quarters more comfortable? I would love to see the pictures! Share them in the comments!

**I wrote this blog post many months ago but I seem to have deleted it accidentally. GRRR!!!**

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 »

My CPT Results

-
Image
liulian runtuh oh! Dear English language teachers! If you're like me, as in you have no clue what your CPT results are, I have good news for you! You can now check if you've got C1 or C2 here  (http://apps.moe.gov.my/abpg/cpt/)!! If you've got a A1-B2, your name will not appear in the list on the site. This website was released early this week & already on the very day itself, this jungle teacher has received more than 5 notifications about it! BEFORE 8AM!!! Talk about an affective & efficient cascading model for the dissemination of knowledge amongst education professionals! I've even had a strange lady spam my FB page for me to reveal my results! Thankfully, I removed the unsightly posts & will satisfy her curiosity here tonight!
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 »