A contractor asking for donation?

I was waiting for ‘Asr prayer (as I wrote this).  Then suddenly, I heard somebody knocking on my door.  I asked who he was.  He said that he is from Maahad Tahfiz.   I remember an ustaz who has Tahfiz centre nearby my place who never did anything like this before.  I was skeptical.    I am in dilemma.  I don’t want to lose any chance of giving sadaqah and at the same time, I don’t want to give my money to a conman.  [Note: He came again on 18 August 2019).   

What should I do?  As I was typing this, one of my colleagues messaged us using Whatsapp to let us know about this.  Alhamdulillah she has similar stance as I am.  

If the person tries to sell some product, I don’t mind buying anything from the person even though I might not in need of the things that he sells.  This is based on what my late mom taught me.  Don’t refuse to buy anything from a seller who comes to your house especially if you see he/she carries the things on his/her own. 

My mom was a regular customer of this lady who sells medicated oils and whatsnot.  The lady would never fail to come to my house to sell medicated oils, talcum powder, fish cracker and such.  After she passed away, the medicated oils and talcum power are still there on top of her make-up cabinet/drawer.  A remembrance of my late mother and her kindness.  Al-fatihah.    

Alhamdulillah

I heard the news that he was sick on the way to KL on Sunday (21 April 2019).  At first, I was not aware of the news because I was fasting and had a Personality Psychology class that day.  A busy day for me.  

When he was warded, I was contemplating to pay him a visit.  But upon request of his wife to have limited visits, I just pray for his well-being.  I know that he needs his rest.  I keep updated of any news about him via Whatsapp messages.  Alhamdulillah, when I saw he started to send messages on Whatsapp, I know that he is getting any better.

I pray May Allah Give our Dean, Prof Dr Muhammad Sukri Bin Saud a speedy recovery and ease anything that needs to be done for his recuperation.  

 

 

 

A dilemma indeed

The KPIs for university lecturers are not for faint-hearted people.   Indeed.  But sometimes, there are daredevil ones who would dare to do any and everything to make sure they hit their KPIs with flying colors.   Slow professor principle?  Definitely not on these peps’ vocabulary.  They are one on the Shinkansen mode.  Always.  So, anything that block their way will be bulldozed indefinitely. 

But the reality starts to show that the quantity does not justify the quality.  People have started to talk about it.  When asked about the practice of individuals who use other people’s students work without their contribution, critical people like Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz does say something spot on.  

For me, I believe that we can’t hurry to be “matured”.  It is as if you are taking a hormone booster to get old quickly.  Does anyone want to get old early?  Of course, there are outliers who excel in certain fields at young age and in academia, these people can be exemplified in the way they rise to the social academic ranking faster than the average.  Some are really good.  But I am not like them.  I am a late bloomer.  This is what I notice since young.  So, I am not pushing myself to be on Shinkansen mode.   

The incident that happened to one of my seniors in April 2019 left indelible mark that makes me think to reevaluate and reprioritise my goals in life.  Now, I believe that if I improve myself in the way I relate myself to Allah, it will be translated in the way I lead my life as His ‘Abd.  Even though in one of the verses in the Qur’an states

Yet, I believe that what is good in this world does not mean or equate with money or social status.  Allah Knoweth the best and I pray May He Bless me with the best gladtiding.  

Al-fatihah to my former lecturer_Part 2

He is known as “a killer” lecturer.  (Former students still remember him as such).  Nobody dares to come later than him.  The moment he entered the class, he would lock the door.  Late comers?  You wouldn’t able to enter the class.  Period.  No negotiation.  Nothing. 

At that time, nobody dares to make a complaint to the administrator or the dean.  Who dares to make a complaint when the one who locked the door is THE DEAN himself?  You make complain to him?  Are you crazy?  Even the VC is younger than him.  He is like Don Corleone.  You don’t mess with The Don.  

But former students learn values such as punctuality and such.  One of my friends who took sociology classes with him would proofread her assignments (the things that we don’t bother to do for another classes).  Why?  Those with grammatical errors would be publicly shamed once he returned the assignments.   He teaches us to be perfectionist and proficient in English.  Of course, as students at that time, being young and reckless, some of us didn’t appreciate his style.  

I heard the news yesterday that he passed away in his sleep.  He was 81 years old.  Al-fatihah to Prof. Dr. Mohamed Aris Othman (he is fondly known as Pak Aris even though he has Professorship title).   

To all teachers …

When I did my Latihan Ikhtisas, the English teachers in my school attended a workshop/seminar conducted by Google Educator Group Johor.  Well, since I am not the “real” teacher, for obvious reason, I was not selected to attend the seminar because there was an allocation for teachers to attend such event by school.  I was not a teacher = Not selected.  Kind of sad to be in such equation.  But, that’s life.  For all English teachers, check this out.  

What to write in your TESDCP teaching portfolio?

There are four aspects that you need to write.  

  1. Goals of student learning,
  2. Philosophy,
  3. Beliefs and practices of assessment and
  4. Self-reflection of teaching development over time.

Some tips:

  1. Write from your heart (either in English or Malay) in Words doc file first (the system is linked to UTMPORTAL, so if you leave it for a while, you will lose all of the things that you have written if you don’t save it)
  2. Highlight NALI (use certain terms commonly related to NALI)
  3. Don’t worry too much about grammar (this is not an SPM essay though.  But, please do proofread your writing because it might reflect your language proficiency as an academician teaching at university).
  4. If you have written somewhere that reflect your belief in either one of the aspects, you can link the URL too (there is a column under each heading of the four aspects).   For example, I link a post that I wrote here in my TESDCP about my belief in assessment.