How a TV ad influence me

Credits for my friend, Murali who talks about “How are the stories around you influencing you?” in his blog, Lifetime Learning.

I just want to share just a minor (not major) story of one of the PETRONAS ads. All of PETRONAS ads have been known as touching and always meaningful by people in my country. And I’m going to talk about this particular one:

You can watch it for free at

THIS LINK

If you can’t understand the language, I guess I can give a picture of it. The ad starts with the male doctor release the old man to rest in his daughter’s house. But then, the man insisted to get back to his own home.

Anyway, his daughter asks him to come and live with her family. She even promises him to take a good care of him until he really is healthy again. As soon as he heard this, her husband ask her can’t he stay in the hospital at least until after Raya (this is a celebration by muslims, commonly known as Eid ul Fitr). Unfortunately for the husband, the public hospital is always full, so there is no way that his father-in-law should be allowed to stay once he is stable.

Then, they show several scenes of the family having dinner (actually at first it is them breaking fast, so we can say it is dinner too) and the old man keep breaking glasses and making messes and things like that.

He husband and wife have finally had it and they isolated the old man, providing him with his own table, and his own dining set, which is made of plastics. And they let him to eat alone.

And the couple finally realized their mistakes when their own children are imitating their unfair treat to the old man by saying that when they grow up, they will let their parent to eat alone while they are enjoying their meals inside of the house. Obviously they have sent the wrong message to the little children.

And now I’m telling you how this ad has influence me in a way. I do have parents, who are apparently old and they often get sick and being admitted into hospital every now and then. When I saw this ad, I made a resolution that when I’ve fully grown up (apparently I still didn’t finish my tertiary education and I’m jobless) I won’t treat them like that. I mean, that is far beyond humanity, isn’t it? I will take a good care of them.

Well, maybe that is too early to say anything ambitious like that. But then, right now, I try my best to fulfill my parents’ wishes. For example, once I was too busy with my study and I’ve been busy for weeks, and I’ve been away from home for quite a long period, I simply don’t have time for anyone. But then, my mom calls me and asks me to sit right by her side and just accompany her. Not much to ask. I mean, she didn’t ask me to hike up Mount Everest, did she? I was just going to say no but when I remember this ad, I couldn’t say no. What would I feel when my children do the same to me in the future?

Giving 100%

When I found out that I was recruited to National Service, and I’m going to be sent across the South China Sea in order to report myself in one of the NS camps in Sarawak, I have two choices. I’m going or I’m not. Two tough choices I must say.

If I’m not going, then I’ll break the law. If I’m going, then I’ll spend over two months of my precious time just to do things as I’m told to? I mean those time could be used to collect money, to gain work experiences, and to get my driving licence.

Anyway, I’ve made my choice. I choose to go (or they said to serve my country, whatever). And I left the comfort of my home with one objective- this is not going to be just a waste of time.

The first week is killing me. Boring….. And I don’t know the people. I kept thinking of how am I going to make friends? I still remember our Vice Commandant of Training (TKL) gave us a welcome speech. She said that they (the management and trainers) are going to give us many chances, but it’s up to us (the trainees) to grab those chances. We won’t get anything unless we choose to involve a 100%.

Initially, everyone (trainers and some trainees) always use that phrase. “Are you going to let yourself involve 100% or not?” they kept saying, whenever someone refuse to do things as they were told to do. At first, I couldn’t understand. What’s up with a 100% involvement? Yeah, I admit that sometimes I can be a bit naïve and clueless.

So, I try to keep myself low-profile. I try to avoid disciplinary problem. And the result is not only I’m miserable, but I’m lonely.

Towards the end of the training programme, I finally took the TKL’s advice. I don’t care of what others are thinking. I want to do things not because I’m told to, but I want to do it for myself. That is the true meaning of involving by 100%. So, I joined the basketball team knowing that I’m nothing like the Chinese players. I represented my company in chess because I know that I can do this. I joined rafting team even though it is my first time. I speak up my opinion even though I’m going to hurt others. I tried ‘flying fox’ despite the fact that I’m scared of height. And only by that point, I’m happy to join NS. And of course, this is definitely not a waste of time.

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Program Latihan Khidmat Negara

Teacher and Student Relationship

There is a unique ‘thing’ between the teacher, educator, tutor, governess, lecturer, guru, mentor- whatever their name is, with their student, pupil, learner, apprentice- whoever we call ourselves. There’s a saying that sounds like this: Do not judge a book by its cover. But still, we can’t resist the fact that we all do that, don’t we?

When it comes to teachers, some of them can’t escape the fact that they are being judged by their students. Some students will grow a love/hate or a friendship/enemy relationship with their teachers. At first encounter it seems easy to judge teachers, but eventually you always learn something.

This is a story from someone whom I know, about her relationship with her teacher, which I think, is worth to display here.

My math teacher has transferred to another school. She is always loving but at the same time disciplining, smart and one word best describe her is extraordinary.

My greatest regret was that I got a C for Additional Mathematics in the final exam. It was one shocking result for me. I couldn’t give that to her. Even I didn’t like that fact, but a C was one last impression about me that I left her. On her last day, she even asked what happened to me. I was feeling so down that I couldn't answer  such a simple question.

Anyhow, a new year begins. A new math teacher, replacing her is reporting to our school real soon. Rumor spreads out that it is going to be a male teacher. A young one. Freshly graduated from a top university. All my girl classmates are looking forward to meet him. Yeah, right. I still think that it will never be the same. I miss my previous teacher.

The day finally comes. He enters our class, introduces himself, and starts teaching. As usual, I judge people. His voice is shaky. His explanations don't make any sense. He refers to the textbook a lot. This guy is either lack of confidence, or lack of preparation. And I’m practically not interested. So, I surrender to my tiredness. I sleep in his math class!

This is going on and on. I’m not sure when will I stop. If I do not sleep, I’ll do my own work. Things become even worse when I feel that his teaching is consuming too much time. I prefer that we spend more time on exercises rather than listening to his babbling about math in our daily life. The truth is, I grow my extreme dislike of this new teacher because I felt being underestimated by him. Why? The answer is simple. He did not recommend my name to a try out for Mathematics Olympiad. I still can’t believe it. I entered the Olympiad last year, and he didn't give me a chance just because of one lousy C compared to many other A’s I've got before.

One other thing is I felt quite embarrassed due to one incident. I was asleep while he is teaching in front. I wasn’t so deep in sleep. I still hear everyone around me. Suddenly, I feel like there’s someone at my side. There he is. My new math teacher is looking patiently at me. He is holding a piece of paper, and he asks me to answer one question about something that he has just taught when I was not paying attention to him. Even though I managed to answer his question (thank God), but still I got every eye in the classroom looking at me in disgust.

My ego should be praised in this case. I work harder than ever, I did a lot of math exercises and I never got anything but an A in every single test and exam. My new teacher is no longer complaining about me not paying attention in class. I knew this because once, he summoned my best friend to the Math Department. He asks her whether she got any problem with him. My friend is angry, instead of answering; she asks him why didn't he summon me too. The answer is simple and pleasant to me. He didn’t summon me because my performance in every test and exam is satisfying.

Trough my best friend, I finally understand the fact that this new teacher should not be blamed of. He made us copy notes (we never take notes in math class before) because the head of department insisted on it. He is teaching the way he is right now because he can’t leave the slow-learners to learn math on their own.

Only after that day did I realized that this new teacher is trying really hard to make us learn something. It is not just about getting best grades (although this is the school’s main priority), but it is also about relating math to our daily life and to applying it in problem solving. And that day, he finally gains my respect. I still do my own work while he’s teaching. But, we have discussed about it and he allows me as the fast-learner to move to another level. He’ll help me whenever I have difficulties. And I’m thankful that this new teacher did not report me to my parents or something.

However, I still didn’t tell him about me feeling quite sad being underestimated by him. Let’s just keep it as our secret, shall we? After all, I have proved that the C is just a stepping stone that push me to strive for my success.

From this story, we can conclude that nowadays the teachers, to some degree, need to demonstrate that they are worthy of the students' respect. Proving to us that they are not just another stereotypical teacher, trying to impress their students, but instead that they truly deserve the title of teacher.

Unlike stereotypical teacher, the teachers should be more creative in their teaching approach. I mean, if you’re teaching at 12 noon when the atmosphere is too hot, you can’t be using monotone voice. Students will fall asleep easily. Be more creative. Change your approach; don’t just explode your anger to students. It’s not entirely their fault.

In my friend’s case, the teacher solve his problem with students by communicating with them. It is clear that some student is hiding their own reasons. Teachers should just dig that problem out and together work out to find a solution that is acceptable by everyone.

No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars or sailed an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit. –Helen Keller

A Call for Humanity

About a year ago, I wrote this entry in my journal.

DIFFICULT LESSONS IN LIFE

The title attracted me to read this inspiring story of Yvonne Fong, a neurofibromatosis (NF) patient. Instead of giving up and hoping for some miracle to happen, the 19-year old initiated various ways to raise funds needed for her to seek appropriate treatment in the United States.

She started with raising awareness through her blog, so people can get to know about NF. The, she initiated HEART4HOPE- a t-shirt fundraiser. Besides that, she is in the process of publishing a book titled 'I’m not sick, just a bit unwell’, which details her battle with NF.

Yvonne has to deal with people around her along this journey. People like supplier, customers and the community itself. I was drawn to her quote, “Instead of indulging in self pity, why not think of what we can do?”

In my opinion, her spirit is important to keep her hope alive. She is eager to live a healthy life once again. I did learn of the importance of integrity through her story.

I remembered reading the article about Yvonne in The Star newspaper So, I tried to retrieve that same article via the archive at The Star Online. Unfortunately, the archive lasts for 365 days only. Luckily, I managed to find Yvonne Fong’s website. And I’m glad that I can finally get the latest news of Yvonne. It seems that she has gone through consistent medical check-up (MRI scans to monitor her brain and some other stuff). She also managed to get several successful surgeries to remove the tumors in the past years. But still, she needs our support to help her fight this disease.

~Her story still touched my heart even for years.

Is this you?

I’ll start this entry with a story about a girl I know who seems to be happy all the time, even though she always gets sick. She has some sort of problem with her immune system. The doctor confirmed that her body is lacking of white blood cells. I will feel bad and not in the mood every time I get flu, I can’t understand why she is ok with that. I asked her what her secret is. She said that “When you’ve been used to the worst condition, it doesn’t bother you anymore. I’m grateful that I’m still alive.”

I’m stumbled. Her statement gave me an idea to write about ungrateful people who take things for granted. Take a look at the poor people who are used to just eat whatever they had on their plate, compared to those rich people who refuse to eat and throw away their food just because the food in dining hall (in our school) doesn’t fit their taste. I hate this kind of people. They are not grateful of what they have. Some of my friends said that they are afraid to have their breakfast, or lunch or even dinner with me because I’ll force them to finish everything on their tray. It’s not my fault. Is it really hard to just eat?

What about the people who don’t know to reduce the usage of water and electricity. Living in Malaysia, of course we don’t have to face the high bills, YET! Aren’t you people aware of the cost for purifying water and also the cost of generating electricity? I’m disappointed in some people, students of MARA especially when they are not thinking of the money wasted to pay the bills. It’s not their money, but the citizens’ money. Not just those students actually. Let’s face it- a lot of Malaysians are doing the same thing.

And the most ungrateful thing is when some people waste their time fooling around when they are supposed to strive hard and make their parents proud. If you think you’re one of them, ask your parents of how much did they spent on your education. Or if you are smart, just count the school fees, tuition fees, books and your pocket money that they have given to you from standard one until you’ve finish school and then university. It isn’t cheap.

I’m expressing my concern in my blog. Sorry if it bothers you, my readers. I hope that some people will take their time to think of my point. That’s all.

... not GOOD ENOUGH!

Imagine things like this in your life. First, you got a few A's in the final exam. Maybe you think that it is not so bad. Let’s twist this story a little bit by imagining you, in spite of those A's; you also got a D, in history!!!!!

Or try this- you hang out with your friends. You know that your parents are not going to like it as your friends here, enjoy loitering in the malls, smoking, and generally do stupid things. Your mom’s friend saw you one day. To make things spicy, she is not just telling your mom, she tells everyone- so much like CNN really.

Nightmare huh? Let’s not stop there. Think of how your parents might react. They might scold you or stop giving you allowance, or even worst, you’re grounded for life.

In this situation, should you blame others- Teachers; Friends; Your parents; God; or the CNN Auntie? Hey, what about yourself?

I don’t think that blaming others or yourself is really the right thing to do. You can’t blame your parents. Of course they are mad of you when they have spent a lot of money on your education- school fees, private tuition, books, school needs. They are not cheap you know. How do you repay them? Bad grade is it? No way. Repay them with those annoying words from the CNN auntie? I don’t think so.

You can’t blame your friends too. They have no right to force you to join them. Why hanging out with the useless friends in the first place. If they should not be blamed, then is it the teachers? The answer is absolutely not. If you are the one who never finishes the homework, who always disturbs the class or never show up at school, I can’t see the rational of blaming the teachers.

I’m posting this not to under estimate you, my fellow friends. I just want you to realize that the world does not care to help you unless you want to help yourself first. If you think that you have done your best, please REMEMBER this- it is still not GOOD ENOUGH!

Truth is bitter, NOT!

Have you ever felt something weird enough, that your brain is getting too much nerve and from the bottom of your heart, it feels so wrong? Wow, it’s a long question. Seriously, have you?

Well, I have. And here is a story about ME! (Funny, I sounded like Kuzco). About 2 years ago, my teacher said something (as usual) in the assembly. And that time he was talking about the importance of making early preparation for an exam. He said something about you will never know if you are going to be sick on the day before the exam, so it is better to start revising now.

I never intended to make fun of his advice but I basically did that. I said I never have a problem to ace my exam even if I did my revision the day before an exam. My bad, I know. Everything went wrong from then on. I always get fever during exam weeks; it is so bad that I couldn’t pay much attention on the books, and worst, I couldn't answer properly because all I want is to rest.

You can’t imagine how bad it feels during the end of the year exam, then PMR, and you know what, this year, I got fever 5 times (during all 5 exam)! I don’t know whether it has something to do with my rudeness or maybe just because I’m weak. All I can think about is that God wants to show me that being rude is NO GOOD.

I started to feel guilty when I realized the fact that maybe it would hurt the teacher’s feeling if he had heard me at that time. I told my mom about this and she suggested me to tell him the truth and say that I’m sorry. It’s kind of hard since I’ve transferred to MJSC Taiping, so I’ll have to go to his house. Of course it will be easier to just give him a call, but I don’t think that it is a good idea.

I never got the chance until yesterday. I was there, right in front of his house. He was just home after the Friday’s prayer. I greeted him and told everything, and I apologized. He smiled and didn’t show any sign of anger. I wasn’t paying much attention because I was busy restraining myself from crying but I think he said something like he would forgive everyone before going to bed everyday because we would never know when we’ll die. Maybe you don’t see the connection, but I do.

He said not to worry since he has forgiven me a long time ago. It is a relief and you can’t imagine how great it felt. People say that truth is bitter. I don’t think so because it is SWEET!

To all of you out there, I advice you to spill out the truth; it really lowers your burden. And please be careful and think more than twice before you say something. Who knows you might get into trouble, just like I did.

Hakuna Matata?

Have you ever watch The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata? If you had, remember what Rafiki told Timon? He said: “Look beyond what you see”. Of course it is funny (and cute) that Timon takes it literally. Anyway, I’m telling you this to make your brain there think and look around us, take a look beyond what you see.

Now, what am I talking about? Let me make this easy for everyone. I believe that every single organism on the Earth has something that we should think about. And this is where we can apply the concept.

Take a look at ants for instant. They are social insects and they are well-organized colonies. Please take note that these ants will do anything and everything, just to find food. It’ll travel far, far away to search for food. And if it can’t lift it up on its own, the others will come along and help out. Isn’t it beautiful?

And that’s not all. I’ve seen them so strong. They’ll hold on and never give up easily. My mom planted a mango tree in front of our house, and there’s a lot of weaver ants (is that what they’re called in English?). One day, I was trying to clean a dustbin, which is surrounded by many of these ants. I sprayed the bin with water. And they just don’t know how to let go. I gave up and left the bin for some time, hoping they’ll go away.

I think that people should adapt these values in their life. Every time I’m feeling down, I’ll never let go. I can go on talking about the values we can learn from ants, but I prefer for you to think about it and look beyond what you see.

Let’s see another example. Take a look at camels. I’ve seen and touched them in Saudi Arabia 2 years ago, and I kind of like them (besides their smells). Camels are able to withstand changes in body temperature and water content that would kill most other animals, which means they can survive in the dessert without water for 2 weeks.

Camels are very useful when they once helped human beings to travel in the dessert. In turn, human take a good care of them. All I can see here is it is important for us to help weaker person because we’ll need their help someday, just like the camels did.

There are a lot more things to see. Iguana, orang utan, crocodile, and dolphin, just name it and look beyond what you see. And you’ll find that the colour of life is beautiful. Good luck!

Change is good

For those who have been reading my previous posts, I guess you know that I’m studying in a boarding school, right? I went miles away from my hometown, but I do get closer to my parents’ hometown though.

Anyway, being away in a totally new environment and being able to see a lot of new stuffs has changed me, and I really mean it. Well, not the entire me, I’m still the same kid but my perspective have changed. I used to be loud and enjoy myself wasting my time doing and talking about useless things with my friends.

All of this have changed when I learnt that I can’t afford to waste my time because I have a bunch of homework and yet too much duty as a SDB member. Every great mind there is focusing on their goals, which are clear. They all want to succeed in life, to be somebody important. I don’t want to be left out. I mean, come on, do you want to be the loser?

Friends? Well, if you’re not in the same class with them, you’re not going to spend much time with them except on the weekends or public holidays. You’ll spend more time with your classmates though, so you’ll have trouble if you don’t get along well. And people really don’t care about your problems because they got their own problems too. So, unless you’re really in big trouble, or you really need someone to be there for you, forget about advertising your problems. All you need to do is to be brave and work it out by yourself.

However, do not misunderstand us. We have a lot of good values in there though. I discovered that I can do a lot of things if I put myself into it. I can debate (although it’s not that good), I can lead others and myself, I can present my projects well, and I learn to cooperate with others (including the person I like the least).

Besides that, I learnt that if you want something, go for it. Choices determine human destiny, not chances. When I see there’s a chance, I choose to grab it immediately because there’s a lot more other talented and brilliant people out there seeking for their chance.

The most important thing of all is that I’ve been inspired to make my parents proud of me. During the graduation day of Form 5 students, we, SDB, had to accompany and assist their parents. I had the chance to talk to some of them and a parent (I don’t even know him) touched my heart when he said that my father would be proud of me. I can see it in his face; he was very proud of his son (or maybe daughter, I never asked). I want my father to have the same look too. To make that happen, I won’t waste my time anymore.

I don’t care how hard I have to work as long as I try. And that is a promise. I’m no longer the kid who’s lost and don’t know her purpose in life because I’ve travel to a place like no other.

Feeling down?

I cleaned the house today and guess what; I found an old book of mine which contains all the pearls of wisdom I’ve ever heard. I thought it would be nice to share some of them with all of you. Who knows, it might lift up your spirit to live.

If you didn’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. –Aparajito Sen-

Do what you can with what you have right where you are. –Henry Truman-

Never advertise your troubles; there’s no market for them. –Anonymous-

Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophesy –Brian Tracy-

The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it. –Arnold H. Glasow-

I am only one but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something I’ll not neglect that something I can do. – Helen Keller-

If you follow your dreams, strive to make them come true, then life’s sure to bring all the best things to you. –Anonymous-

The best rose bush after all is not that which has the fewest thorns, but that which bears the finest roses. –Henry Van Oyke-

Even if you’re on the right track, if you stand still you’ll get run over by the next train. –Will Rogers-

The thing that always happens is that of what you really believe in; and the belief in a thing is what makes it happen. –Frank Lloyd Wright-

Don’t attempt to do a thing unless you are sure of yourself; but don’t relinquish it simply because someone else is not sure of you. –Stewart E. White-

Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road. –Dag Hammarskjold-

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. –Mark Twain-

Self-discipline is defined here as self-control, self-restraint, self-reliance, and independence. It is the training and controlling of oneself, and of one’s habits and conduct, for the sake of personal improvement. Self-discipline is the ability to do what is right even when no one is around to instruct a person what to do. –Anonymous-