Korean Fried Chicken?

Marrybrown Korean Fried Chicken

When I did my Latihan Ikhtisas, there were times when some teachers and I would go to Today’s Mall after school and hanged out for a while.  Since the only fast food restaurant available at Today’s Mall is Marrybrown, we would go there.  I was introduced to this last year.  It is a seasonal thingy.  Not for the whole year.  Fast forward, the Korean Fried Chicken is back again.   Well, some might say that the K-Fry Chicken is better than this.  But of course, K-Fry Chicken is a little bit pricier than this version.     Which one is my favorite?  As long as it is free, any fried chicken is my favorite 😀 

Let go of your ego

It is not easy to let our ego/pride go.  As what Rick Rigsby in his moving talk “Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity“.   Don’t be stupid to let our ego control our lives.   In Islam, pride or arrogance is considered as one of the biggest sins.  This can be referred to various verses in Al-Quran

In Surah az-Zumar (Verse 60)

وَيَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ تَرَى ٱلَّذِينَ كَذَبُوا۟ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ وُجُوهُهُم مُّسْوَدَّةٌ ۚ أَلَيْسَ فِى جَهَنَّمَ مَثْوًى لِّلْمُتَكَبِّرِي  ﴿٦٠ ﴾

“Is there not in Hell an abode for the proud?” (Surah az-Zumar 39:60)

In another verse from the same surah,

قِيلَ ٱدْخُلُوٓا۟ أَبْوَٰبَ جَهَنَّمَ خَٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا ۖ فَبِئْسَ مَثْوَى ٱلْمُتَكَبِّرِينَ

“It shall be said: Enter the gates of hell to abide therein; so evil is the abode of the proud.” (Surah az-Zumar 39:72)

In Surah Ghafīr (Verse 35) Allah Almighty remarks,

الَّذِينَ يُجَادِلُونَ فِي آيَاتِ اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ سُلْطَانٍ أَتَاهُمْ كَبُرَ مَقْتًا عِندَ اللَّهِ وَعِندَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كَذَٰلِكَ يَطْبَعُ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ قَلْبِ مُتَكَبِّرٍ جَبَّارٍ

“Thus does Allah set a seal over the heart of every proud, haughty one.” (Surah Ghafīr 40: 35)

In another surah, Surah Al-Baqarah: 34, due to arrogance, Iblis was regarded as the accursed one.

وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ ٱسْجُدُوا۟ لِءَادَمَ فَسَجَدُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ إِبْلِيسَ أَبَىٰ وَٱسْتَكْبَرَ وَكَانَ مِنَ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ

May Allah safeguard us from the feeling of arrogance and prideful.  

Academic Camp April 2019

I had the first round of Academic Camp for MUET last April (29 – 30 April 2019).  There are 21 form 6 students who would take MUET this year (a few weeks after the Academic Camp, several students opt to withdraw and only 12 left as today).  I created a simple module last year which I use for this year’s camp.  I just did minor editing.  This is a continuation of the things that I did last year when I underwent Latihan Ikhtisas.  

 

Multiple intelligence: What is that?

Any intelligence theory is complicated and could easily be misunderstood because there are many layers of intelligence.   Some might think that if a student prefers to use audio style of learning (i.e. listening to lecture, talk, engaging in discussion etc.), he/she is an auditory learner.  Well, it is easy to accept such assumption because it gives a quick way to understand one’s preference in learning.  But, as human being, we are complex beings and thus, there are so many aspects and factors that affect our learning.  

When Howard Gardner proposed his theory of Multiple Intelligence, he wrote many articles about it but off lately, other researchers have found findings that contradict Gardner’s idea.  Gardner acknowledges that he might overlook some parts of human learning.  As teachers, we have to take time to know our students.  Knowing their intelligence level or learning preference is not enough.  Compassion is one of the key elements to be emphatic teachers.  

Doa dimudahkan urusan

There are some doa to seek for Allah guidance and blessing to ease our business or activity.  

1) Surat Al-Kahfi, Ayat 10 (Doa Ashabul Khafi)

رَبَّنَا آتِنَا مِنْ لَدُنْكَ رَحْمَةً وَهَيِّئْ لَنَا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا رَشَدًا

Maksudnya, “…Ya Allah, berikanlah kepada kami rahmat dari sisiMu, dan sempurnakanlah bagi kami petunjuk yang lurus dalam urusan kami ini.”

2) Surat Taha, Ayat 25-28 (Doa Nabi Musa AS)

رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي. وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي. وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِي. يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي

Maksudnya, “Ya Tuhanku, lapangkan untukku dadaku. Dan mudahkanlah untuk urusanku. Dan lepaskan kekakuan dari lidahku. Agar mereka dapat dengan mudah mengerti perkataanku.”

3) Surat Al-Baqarah, Ayat 286

لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِنْ نَسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَا إِصْرًا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ ۖ وَاعْفُ عَنَّا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا ۚ أَنْتَ مَوْلَانَا فَانْصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ

Maksudnya, “Ya Tuhan kami, janganlah Engkau hukum kami jika kami lupa atau kami tersalah. Ya Tuhan kami, janganlah Engkau bebankan kepada kami beban yang berat sebagaimana Engkau bebankan kepada orang-orang sebelum kami. Ya Tuhan kami, janganlah Engkau pikulkan kepada kami apa yang tak sanggup kami memikulnya. Beri ma’aflah kami; ampunilah kami; dan rahmatilah kami. Engkaulah Penolong kami, maka tolonglah kami terhadap kaum yang kafir.”

4) Surat Al-Anbiya, Ayat 87 (Doa Nabi Yunus)

لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنْتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ

Maksudnya, “…Tidak ada Tuhan selain Engkau. Maha Suci Engkau, sesungguhnya aku adalah termasuk orang-orang yang zalim.”

5) Surat Al-Baqarah, Ayat 255 (Ayat Kursi)

اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ ۚ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۗ مَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِنْدَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ

Maksudnya, “Allah, tidak ada Tuhan (yang berhak disembah) melainkan Dia Yang Hidup kekal lagi terus menerus mengurus (makhlukNya); tidak mengantuk dan tidak tidur.

KepunyaanNya apa yang di langit dan di bumi. Tiada yang dapat memberi syafa’at di sisi Allah tanpa izinNya. Allah mengetahui apa-apa yang di hadapan mereka dan di belakang mereka, dan mereka tidak mengetahui apa-apa dari ilmu Allah melainkan apa yang dikehendakiNya.

Kursi Allah meliputi langit dan bumi. Dan Allah tidak merasa berat memelihara keduanya, dan Allah Maha Tinggi lagi Maha Besar.”

A new craze? FaceApp

I did not log in to my FB account for a quite some time.  When I logged in yesterday, I notice that some of my friends’ pictures have changed.  They appeared “older”.  Then I saw the Apps that makes the changes.  Aaah… Face App.  What is it?  Why it becomes such a craze?  Why do people curious about knowing how they look when they are “older”?  It is as if they know for definite that they will live that long to reach that age.  Astagfirullah. 

Well, to be honest, I am really slow when it comes to whatever trending Apps and whatsnot and that is why it is quite a challenge for me to learn developing my class materials using Powtoon, Prezi, Moovly and whatsnot.  I am getting used to using Prezi and I am still struggling to use Powtoon and Moovly.  I don’t know how long should I spend converting my notes in Moovly or Powtoon format.   May Allah guide me in my struggle to be a better Muslim.  

 

Fees increased?

Fees increased at UTM?  It causes major uproar among students, ex-students and alike who posts “angry” comments about the issue.  How I wish the students have the same motivation and enthusiasm when they are in class doing their reflective discussion.

Jering [Archidendron pauciflorum]

Jering or its scientific name, Archidendron pauciflorum is a popular side dish in Southeast Asian region (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Burma and Brunei).  Personally, I don’t eat any food with unique smell like durian, petai, and jering (included).  It is just personal preference, not related to health condition.   My late dad planted this jering tree more than 30 years ago on the border between his land and the neighbour’s land.  This tree is far from my house but nearer to the neighbour’s house.  So, without fail, whenever there are jering seeds, my neighbour will give us some of the jering.  

I brought some to give to my colleagues last two weeks ago, but not many eat jering.  Today, I got a message from K Im asking me if I still have jering.  Well, my neighbour just gave us some yesterday.  In sha Allah I will bring it to UTM this coming Sunday.  K Im said that she is craving to eat jering with sambal.  There are some recipes that I find which use jering as its ingredient.   But, I never tried any of this recipe.  

There are many medicinal benefits of eating jering, but I find one article stating eating is could cause djenkolism,   There are studies have been done to explore its effect on health.   For those with kidney problem, it is advised not to eat raw/ uncooked jering.