Social responsibility: We play our own part (small or big? It does not matter)

When I was young back in the 90s, one of my comic magazines is Ujang which was a big hit circa 1994.  But due to lack of financial budget, I never subscribed or bought the comic on monthly basis but rather borrowed from those who had it.  I am such a cheapo, right?  I admit that.  But I remember it well, somewhere in 1996, Ujang came to Pelangi Leisure Mall (I worked at MPH at that time while waiting for my SPM results).  I bought a bandana (I lost it now).

Somewhere in the late 90s, there was this controversy that somehow affected the comic badly.  But I remember well one of the cartoonists, Sireh (Lawak Student).  Well, I was a teenager at that time and somehow the cartoon characters and story line resonate with teenage life.  Years passed by and I am no longer a big fan of any comics (it does show how age is catching up).

But I vividly remember that what I like about Ujang (and the cartoon characters that the other cartoonists created) is the variety of social issues that happen in day to day life depicted in the story line of the characters.  It could be related to teenagers life, university students (young adult) or mak cik or pak cik at villages.   The social drama is translated into comical descriptions without losing the seriousness of social issues that is being highlighted and emphasized.   This can be exemplified by one of the cartoon strips by Sireh.  It is hard-breaking yet it depicts the real issue that we are facing right now.

This cartoon strip is by Sireh (Lawak Student). I came across this cartoon strip on my Facebook.  Somebody posted it in her Facebook.  I

 

How to inform parents about their children performance?

There are many ways that teachers can do to inform parents about their children academic performance.  When I did my Latihan Ikhtisas, one of the ways that I did was to use Quizziz and send the report to parents.  This method does work to let the students know that we (teachers) always keep in touch with their parents and let them about their progress.

A week after I sent the email, one of the students told me this “Teacher, mak saya kata saya tak boleh tengok TV kalau tak baca buku.  Mak saya kata teacher hantar email ke dia ya beritahu pasal kuiz yang saya jawab?” [Translated: Teacher, my mom told me that I cannot watch TV if I don’t read books.  She also told me that you sent an email about the quiz that I took].  I looked directly at him and said “So, what should you do now? Will you answer the quiz seriously next time?”  He sheepishly replied “Saya akan ikut cakap mak saya dan saya tak akan main-main bila jawab kuiz” [Translated: I will follow what my mom said and I will not play around while answering the quiz].