Malaysian School Holiday iCal

MOE released next school session’s calendar. I updated the feed to include the 2023/2024 dates. I also moved the file to a shorter url.

Download Links

Group A

Bare URL

For Copy and Pasting into your calendar

https://www.rahmanpauzi.my/wp-content/uploads/ical/school-group-a.ics

How To Write A Good Essay Part2

here are some simple tips

1 Use ALL Of Your Senses Lets review what is our senses, Sight, Hearing, Smell, Taste, Feel (touch/tactile) but lets not forget your Feelings (Heart). The sixth sense.

When writing please include as much as detail as possible, for you to remember to do this just remember all your senses and ask
– What can you see
– What can you hear
– and etc

In most cases students (not all but I see that most of my students) will neglect to include their Heart. A good writer will include in his/her writings what is close to their heart, here is how you will attract your readers. Human are busybody/prying (jaga tepi kain org) and when the writer starts to include personal feelings it will be more interesting and intriguing to the reader. More plus point for getting the examiner to actually read your essay rather than just skimming to see the structure smile.gif

2. Don’t choose the shorter questions, such as water, peace, environment. These type of single word questions are among the hardest to score. You will think that it will be easy for you to get idea/contents for the topic but don’t be fooled. Most of the time, I see that students will start to branch out too much and lose focus of the topic itself. If you are not confident, don’t pick that topic. Chose a more directed question.

For this type of questions when u wander around too much, u will tend to get a grade lower than what you are supposed to get. Nowadays the marking scheme are what u call, holistic marking, where the examiner will glance thru the entire essay and see if your essay has what it takes to be an A essay. If not, he’ll go down a notch and check if its a B essay, and so on so forth. (this is a simplification of the true process, ask your teacher, she will be able to explain it in more details)



BTW, writing is a natural born ability that is an extension of speaking. If you are the type that is talkative and tends to be good at story telling, even if its only retelling the Korean Drama to your friend then more than likely you are a good writer as well. smile.gif

Anymore q’s on how to write good essays just post it here. This is all I could remember. If I remember more, I’ll post it up here.

Malaysian School Holiday 2022/23 iCal

Searched for an ical feed for school holidays but couldn’t find one.

So I made these for my own personal use but decided to extend it for other people as well by creating another one for Group B.

Download Links

Group A

Group B

Bare URL

For Copy and Pasting into your calendar

https://www.rahmanpauzi.my/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/school-group-a.ics
https://www.rahmanpauzi.my/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/school-group-b.ics

The Audacity Of The Young One

I have been involved in the development and fine tuning of  Co-Academic activities concept paper for quite some time. I was among the youngest when I started.  The group was quite small back then and it is a fact that I have always been intimidated by my colleagues. Older and more experienced in many ways.

During one of my early meetings I was sitting across the table to a senior teacher. In one of our heated discussion on how we should go about one of the activities. She blurted out “the audacity of the young one” at me. It sounded harsh in the beginning but her face had a smile. For context, I was explaining to my colleagues on why we shouldn’t follow her direction for a competition.

At that time it was shocking. But as time passes by I realise it should have been the opposite, it should have been a proud moment. I have done what many wouldn’t do. To respectfully disagree when the situation demands for it. And I believe that is why there was a smile accompanying the words.

I believe that was why I was included in the discussion, to be candid and to be frank when the ideals seems to be too lofty. To introduce fresh ideas. To simplify and to make it easy for adoption.

My younger colleagues may have heard this story from me before, it is all but a reminder that they too have ideas that may be worth more than mine.

Konvokesyen dan Hujan

31 Oktober 2010 – Sintok, Kedah

11 tahun yang lepas pada hari ini saya di UUM Sintok untuk graduasi sarjana. Graduasi dalam suasana malap, tiada gambar yang di ambil kerana hujan yang pada awalnya rintik-rintik semakin lebat. Hanya bergantung sepenuhnya kepada jurugambar rasmi majlis.

Apa yang lebih di ingati adalah perjalanan pulang. Sejurus tamat konvokesyen sudah ada kawan yang memilih untuk terus pulang. Saya memilih untuk bertolak sedikit lewat. Sudah banyak jalan yang dinaiki air. Menggunakan garmin kami mencari jalan alternatif yang belum dinaiki air untuk ke lebuhraya.

Alhamdulillah kami berjaya mencari jalan yang selamat. Masih saya ingat kerana kami terpaksa melalui kawasan sawah padi untuk memintas kawasan yang tenggelam. Kami berjaya sampai ke lebuhraya utama walaupun menghadapi sedikit kesukaran. Hujan di sepanjang jalan sangat mendebarkan lebih-lebih lagi bila merentasi banjaran Titiwangsa. Alhamdulillah, kami sampai ke rumah dengan selamat walaupun berdebar sepanjang perjalanan.

Keratan akhbar pada keesokan hari menunjukkan bahawa lebuhraya yang kami lalui juga telah ditenggelami air. Sidang konvokesyen kami juga menjadi sidang terakhir. Kerana sidang seterusnya telah ditunda akibat dari banjir.

The Traveller

I am a traveller on a journey,
A journey of knowledge,
On a path to fill this thirst.

O lonely rocks,
Do you not wish to traverse the world?
Enjoying sights unknown.

Join me!
Let’s walk together on this journey,
A journey full of wonders.

Voyage of enlightenment,
A never ending quest,
A purpose to fill.

Logical Fallacies

How many logical fallacies have you seen today?

One of the first few things we need to learn before we start delving into debates or arguments is logical fallacies. A good debater need to develop the ability to recognize logical fallacies and not be pulled into it.

If you see someone, basing their arguments on a fallacy. Side step!

Let’s start with a few logical fallacies

1. Ad Hominem
The worst type, a personal attack, because someone likes something, is affliated with another person, comes from a place then he/she is deemed something else regardless of the truth.

2. Equivocation
Using an ambiguous term, or a word which have several meanings. Then proceeding not to clarify which meaning is intended.

3. Appeal To Pity
Using pity to mislead and sway your opponent. It often appears as an emotional manipulation.

4. Slippery Slope
Claiming that through a series of small events, a bigger impact/event will happen. Essentialy messing around with the probability.

5. Circular Reasoning
When a person repeats the same argument that they have already assumed without coming to a new conclusion. A is true because B is true; B is true because A is true.

Let me stop here, obviously there are more fallacies, but we’ll cover those on another day.

We Teach

~We teach
  because there is a great fulfillment that comes 
  in working with boys
  and girls.
 
~We teach
  because We wanted to be sculptors,
  and We can do so,
  by shaping lives for the future.
 
~We teach
  because We wanted to be artists,
  and We can do so,
  by painting dreams for children.
 
~We teach
  because We wanted to be musicians,
  and We can,
  in giving inspiration to children.
~We teach
  because We wanted to be historians,
  and We can 
  in having recorded something
  for the lives of great men to come.
~We teach
  because We wanted to be poets,
  and We can
  in writing impressive passages of mankind.
 
~We teach
  because of the reward
  We receive when a child's frown turns to smiles,
  or when he/she says, "Now We understand."
~We teach
  because of the personal growth We receive each day
  as  We venture out on a quest
  for knowledge and techniques
  to help our students understand.
 
~We teach
  for it is in this where We can see the worthwhile
  and true fulfillment of living.

Originally a poem entitled “I teach” , was done as a choral speech during my KPLI days. Credit to the original poet.

The End Is Nigh?

A lot of people have intuited that in the future we will be forced to live indoors, it spawned generations of preppers.

The reason for it have all seemed to be along the lines of war, man made catastrophes. Some have pitched biological warfares. Now it seems the reason would be a pandemic. Not so exciting as a zombie apocalypse, but it certainly is dangerous enough to force us into our homes.

My out take from all of this hits closer to home, I am an educator and I have always believed that we should prepare our kids for the future. When all of this occurred, we could immediately see how people with (medical) skills are in high demand. Through the ages it has always been so. But more so now that its is people who can make things, who can create, defend, heal… These are the people that matters. So what should we do?

Skills, that is what we should do. Focus on creating a generation with hands on skills. Through our TVET programmes. We have to realise that knowing how to sing won’t get food on the table. We can’t all offer conveyancing services, but those who can build those buildings, who can automate said buildings, these are the people that will always be in demand.

Let us not say anymore that TVET is a last choice. It should be our first choice in creating a future ready generation.

Anugerah Kecemerlangan Ko-Kurikulum Peringkat Negeri Kelantan 2018

I am truly honoured to be one of the recipients for Pegawai Teknikal Cemerlang (Ko-Akademik) this year. Couldn’t have done it without support from fellow teachers. Every competition hinges on the team that handles it not just me alone. Thank you for a great year.