Saturday, February 13, 2016

Not Living Live to the Fullest...

This post is written by Peggy from sixpegs... She has just nailed it - something that I couldn't find words to describe my feelings for as long as I can remember.. I'm this pathetic and I hate it when people assume I'm a walking dictionary based on my degree... So, yeah, here it is a copied and pasted blog posting from sixpegs (credits go to Peggy)..

It is always easy to list down the items you have on your Bucket List; easy to tell people around you that one has to live life to the fullest and you have probably read a thousand and one article on Facebook telling you specifically the things to avoid doing (or do) if you don’t want to grow old with regrets.
Does living life to the fullest everyday really makes us feel like we have the world?

“To live a few years of my life like most people won’t, so that I can live the rest of it like most people can’t.”

I have heard this quote once and I find it hard to forget. Often when I find myself slipping away, trying to find excuses for myself so that I can take a little time off from work, I repeat this quote in my head. It makes a lot of sense to me. Except, now I finally realised I’ll need to survive the “living a few years of my life like most people won’t” part to reap what I sow.
I find it hard to live life to the fullest. It has reached a point where I believe no single person can live life to the fullest without some sacrifices. How can one possibly make time for family and friends, do mad well at work and still have time for oneself to do a bit of self-loving and a bit of mental spring-cleaning? No one ever told me that living some aspects of my life to the fullest means killing many other aspects of it with my very own hands.
I don’t want to live a few years of my life like most people won’t.
Caught myself feeling direction-less these days; going through day-to-day work and errands to get by. So much so that I have forgotten that my work partner is also the person whom I am having a romantic relationship with. All work no play makes Jack a dull boy, and Peggy a dull girl.
Yesterday’s dinner was at NOX, this restaurant where you dine in complete darkness. Our server, Rahmat (I’m certain I have spelt his name incorrectly) is visually impaired. But in the darkness, I instantly became the worried and cautious one. He cruised around the dining room with so much confidence, and gave me directions with so much conviction and assurance. I forgot that he couldn’t see. The dinner lasted no more than 40 minutes, but dining in the dark has actually, no pun intended, opened my eyes to many things. We should become blind once in a while; to learn how to look beyond a person’s appearance and behaviour, to learn how to listen properly, and to feel everything present around us. We should all be stripped of that damn cellphone, and see if there is still things to be said to each other when you don’t have that funny video or photo on the phone to share. When was the last time I had a good conversation I truly enjoyed? It is an art when two people who know each other so well can still find deep, intellectual things to talk about. When once you find this person whom you have such profound connection with, you grab that person tight, and don’t ever lose sight of that beautiful future you two might have together. But of course, there is a balance in everything – sensible amount of concern inquisition vs possessiveness, freedom vs disinterest, being jealous vs lack of faith. No such thing as Love Guru because everybody is different. We just gotta find out how every relationship works. Join me, I am figuring it out too.
It takes effort from two to maintain a connection – it’s beyond having meals together and sleeping on the same bed. I have no choice but to agree, for the first time, that it is not easy for a couple to professionally work together. It’s beyond good time management and ability to separate work from personal. It’s a mystery how people did that. People change over time, and it does not only come with age but also with personal experiences in life and at work, interaction with people, with power invested in one over others.
Behind closed doors at home, is The Queen still a queen, or a just a wife to his King?
God Save The Queen, they say.
What about the King?

Monday, February 8, 2016

Media Outcome from SOME of the Events Organised



Let Your Hair Down with English

A write up on BA (Hons) English Education




Eok Kwan Enrichment Camp 


EXtra English (EXE) Camp 1.0





                                                        EXtra English (EXE) Camp 2.0



Inter-Varsity Debate Competition







Teacher Training Camp





What I've done in 2015?

When I took over the office in January 2015, I didn't expect myself to go all out to organise so many events... I was new and energetic... Holding to "Never Say No" to any opportunities attitude, I together with a few very willing to lend-a-hand colleagues organised 11 activities in 2015... 


Let Your Hair Down with English - it was held in my alma mater, ACS Sitiawan... I was so excited to go back and do my bit for my own school... To my surprise, I was invited to deliver a speech (which I crapped my way out) and treated like a VIP during the opening and closing ceremonies...  


EXtra English (EXE) Camp was something that I initiated aiming to publisice the ED programme as well as to let our teacher trainees get a taste of what it's like to be teachers... Following its success, EXE 2.0 was organised a few months later.. 



Special Education Needs Talk saw 2 speech therapist and 1 clinical psychologist educating the undergraduates about suitable methods to teach children with learning disabilities like dyslexia, ADHD etc.. I LEARNT something from the talk...


          

 Eok Kwan Enrichment Camp was the first time a colleague, a few students and myself dealt with 30+ standard 5 pupils and 10 teachers... It was challenging because the children are SMART and FULL OF ENERGY... 



3 teachers from 3 different institutions were invited to be the panelists for the first TESL Forum... One of them was my former student from the very first batch of EL students I've ever taught... 



Inter-Varsity Debate was the most challenging and painstakingly event we've ever organised... Playing host to 2 participating universities and taking care of 75 spoil brats were a pain in our neck...



EZ English Camp was held in SJK(C) Chung Huah where 6 undergraduates were tasked to teach 60 hyperactive standard 5 pupils... They lost their voices at the end of the day while I lost 200 gram thanks to all the running...



Finally, Teacher Training Camp was one of its kind because as can be seen, I've been organising English camps for secondary and primary schools... This on the other hand was a workshop for English teachers and thankfully I have my capable senior lecturers to train the teachers...


Organising all these events though took up a lot of my time plus some hiccups, I got to know many people inside out, those who I can and cannot rely on... They made me realise I am capable to do a lot of things all by myself... So, I shall continue living by my motto - trust no one but myself... Cheers~ 


Saturday, February 6, 2016

After 3 LONG years...

My last post was 3 years ago...
I would like to reactivate / revive my blog...
Just like other lonely beings and I'm also one of them who always turn to Internet, here I'm back to my blog...

I've gone thru a lot of ups and downs for the past 3 years especially last year...
From being promoted to the head of department to ending my relationship, I don't seem to regret with all my decisions... Looking back is not something that I favour doing...

I've lived 1/3 of my life if I can live up to 90 years and as I grow older, I don't be wiser...
Having to make many important decisions is slowly causing me to lose my grip...

After 3 long years, I'm still as pessimistic as forever...