roberts

Photograph of My Nephews

2008-10-18T23:15:00.000-07:00

The photograph shows a picture taken in Kiara Park of 2 of my nephews. On the left is Paul Loh Wei Hunn who lives in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail. On the right is Jeremy Gamage who lives in Ontario, Canada. Paul is 15 years old and just finished his PMR examination while Jeremy is 23 years old and has graduated in Aeronautical Engineering.

This picture was taken by me accompanied by my sister and nieces. It was August 17, 2008 (which felt on my sister's birthday) and to be exact at 10.00 a. m. The weather was bright and sunny therefore we had a good shot.

The background of this picture was taken at a park near where I live during Jeremy's visit to Malaysia last year. People from the surrounding areas namely TTDI, BU and other areas of PJ come to jog, walk and exercise at this park. Here you see people from all walks of lives young or old flocking the park each morning and evening. Families and friends come to the park for picnics or to spend time together. The elderly citizens are also present for tai-chi session accompanied by music. There are evenings where skating lessons are taught as well. Perhaps its the transquility and serenity exuded by the green lung. The park is beautifully landscaped. It has an outdoor gym area, an artificial lake, a waterfall, a suspension bridge, a reflexology path and of cause a playground. The undulating grounds provide the joggers a good challenge to their exercise. At the further end of the park is a forest reserve land. Sometimes, the monkeys from here come down to the park to find food or play.

I sometimes go to the park for walks which usually takes an hour or so. I also go to the outdoor gym to do some workouts. Usually, my niece follows me to the park.

Writing Poetry

2008-10-11T23:31:00.000-07:00

The Talent Time.

In the seventies,
I recall the school hall,
Where students gather,
To express their gestures.

I can hear the beat of the music,
It has catchy tune,
And gives movement to my feet,
And makes me feel gay and merry.

Orientation Nite.

Do you remember 1st Jan 1975,
It was first day of college,
When you call my name Mike,
And we sat together at orientation nite.

We saw the performance,
Organised by the seniors,
It was superb,
I sure can remember.

A gifted child.

Do not judge a book by its cover,
Would be a good expression for me,
I may be only a small boy,
But had brains as good as a graduate.

Maths is as easy as ABC,
And calculus as 123,
I had mastered them,
Even before primary.

A soap star

2008-09-08T05:19:00.000-07:00

Gary spent most of his afternoon and evenings in the theatre practising for his plays. He was excellent in performing arts. At one time he played as a teacher, the next time as a thief. Furthermore, he also had to play the role of animals such as an ass, rabbit or a cow. His wardrobe was filled with a wide selection of clothes. Most of them cost a thousand and thousands of ringgit. He also had different pairs of shoes that would go with his suits. He made lots of money from his plays. Some coming up to hundreds of thousands of ringgit.

He only had to turn up for 1-3 days of work per week. However, sometimes he spent months practising for his performances. The performance was usually accompanied by music played by the pianist. He had to memorise his scripts well so that he did not stammer during the performance. Normally the audience would give him a tunderous applause for his good performance.

A good and exciting performance would be one with all kinds of sounds and character filled with jokes and lots of laughter. If the performance is well advertised and promoted, tickets for his show will be expensive due to high demand.

My Early Reading Experience in School

2008-08-13T05:29:00.000-07:00

I began to read only at the age of seven when I started going to school in Standard One. Although I spoke English at home, I was not able to read until then. My parents were poor and could not afford to send me to kindergarten or preschool. I was really at a disadvantage over the other students who had attended preschool. My classmates knew much more and were able to do a lot of things which I could not. However, I was not discouraged but rather determined to learn and become as good as the others.

The medium of instruction in my school during that time was Bahasa Malaysia and English Language was taught only as a subject. In my first year in primary school, my English teacher taught us the letters in the alphabet. We memorised the 26 letters in the alphabet. To help us remember the sequence of the letters, my teacher taught us the “ABC” song. It was easier to remember when it was a song. To ensure that we knew the alphabet well she was fond of testing us orally what letter came before and after. Very soon I had learned and mastered the letters in the alphabet. Then she taught us words that began with respective letters e.g A for apple. She used the alphabet chart with pictures and words. Pronunciation of the words were very important to my teacher so very often she made the class as a whole and as individuals repeat the words until she felt the pronunciation was right. To remember the words, I had to learn spellings. The spelling list would include the new words that she had introduced.

The next thing was to learn to read simple sentences with the words relating to the letters in the alphabet. By this time, I was able to read simple sentences. We did a lot of drills and exercises in class until we were able to read all the sentences well and without mistakes. Simple rhymes with actions were taught. I enjoyed it very much because there were movement and actions. The rhymes were recited by memory. Some examples include “One, two buckle my shoe”, “Mary had a little lamb”, “Three blind mice” and “Row, row, row your boat.”

My interest in reading developed from a teacher who read us stories. I enjoyed listening to stories being read to me by my teacher. After finishing a story, my teacher would leave the story books for us to read when we were free. I would always be the first to borrow the book and read the story again.

When I was old enough I became a school library member and started borrowing books. Most of the children’s books I read were fiction which had illustrations. These were some of my favourite books that I started with:

Little Red Riding Hood
Jack and the Beanstalk
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
Three Little Pigs

This is a brief account as far as I can remember how I first started reading.

The New Semester

2008-08-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

My new semester began on 21 July 2008 and ends on 18 Nov 2008. This new semester is for a period of 14 weeks. Among the programs line up include lectures, tutorials, quizzes, assignments, mid-term exams and final exams. Usually for each assignment or project given by the lecturer there is a deadline. Students are suppose to handup their work before these deadlines. In this mode of study in UNITAR, assignments that are submitted will carry a percentage of marks. In this way students will not be burden in their studies.

After the students have completed their syllabus, then comes the time to sit for the final examinations. Students have to pay more concentration during this period because the final exams carry 50% of the total marks for the semester.

Most of the students will be looking forward to the semester break where they can either go back to their hometown or participate in outdoor activities. Some students feel that the mid-term break is too short because they need to travel back home which takes a considerable amount of time. To me I feel that the break is necessary because it will help the students to sort out their financial assistants or family commitment. But, other students might feel otherwise if they do not have any commitment.

As a freshie in UNITAR, I feel that the mode of study in UNITAR is an exciting and interesting one. We get to meet students from various backgrounds either locally or internationally who come here to acquire a degree for various purposes. Therefore, I look forward to the new semester to achieve greater heights in the future.