PPSMI and State of English in Malaysia

"Currently, out of the more than 30,000 English teachers nationwide, the prime minister said only eight per cent were confident enough to carry out the PPSMI." - PM Najib Razak as qouted in the Malaysian Insider.

Fact:

1) Most textbooks in science and math are written in English. In fact, all formulas being used in Science and Match are based on English.

2) Only 2,400 teacher are confident in teaching Match and Science in English.

Does that tell you more about the quality of the teachers and their own grasp in English rather than the failure of the program?

"Najib, however, said that the fact that the government is considering making English a compulsory pass subject reflects its seriousness in the matter."

What's the point if they are going to make it so damm easy so that the weaker ones can also pass? Even when I was in school then, the standard between the good and the mediocore were so great, and we were in an urban school, and we still had good teachers, in fact, in my town one of the best schools.

"We can achieve the same objectives if we increase contact hours in English teaching so that students can become confident in other subjects," he said, adding that the government is considering increasing English teaching time in schools soon.

I think it is more wise to increase the English contact time for the teachers while they are in Uni or Teachers Training College than to stuff it into the kids.

Give the kids a break, if you get good Teachers, you get Good Students.

And while they are revamping the program, why not insist the world of science and match speak in Bahasa Melayu.

Shout Out!

Adventures in Daddlyland: day 21

I spent more of the day in JB for a business meeting.

I managed to send J1 to school and then got down to work before headng out to JB.

So the kids have gotten into a routine that it's pretty much manageable now.

When I got home, I found J1 doing her homework and J3 lying on the couch.

J2 was down in the pool for her swimming class and going through her swim test routine still together with the rest of the kids.

Later J3 came down to join us in the pool and played well with the other kids.

We watched amazing race, the episode where the 2 basketball sisters were involved in a pushing match with the mother and son team, and had to explain what "bitch" meant!

Well be thankful it wasn't anything more sinister.

Adventures in Daddyland: Days 16 - 20

Due to my current hectic schedule, I am unable to update daily. As Murphy's Law would dictate, life would get more complicated as the travel date draws closer.

Day 16:

Yesterday, towards the evening was walking around like a zombie due to a whole day of meetings and running around town, and even had a second cuppa at 6 pm, to no avail. It was pretty much on the go from 6 am onwards till about 940 pm when I finally got into the floor.

I had a series of meetings, in between which I had to make a detour back to Clementi to pick up the car. Another reason why I let you drive, but I do bitch about having to get wet and walk under the hot sun.

J1 thought she had her wushu test, but turned out to be a false alarm for her, but some of the other kids did have their exams. I think it's because she just signed up and the rest may have been from last year.

J3 for once, did not cry when she went to take her bath and to school. My mom thinks its because she got a "new" dress to wear yesterday. We'll see her in action today to see if it's a once off or the tide is turning.

j2 was OK as usual, and I took both J1 and J2 out to cycle in the evening before I realized that she had her speech and drama, so that was cut short, and also the 2 of them argued. I think more J1 took offense to something J2 did and took off running, and then J2 came and ask where was J1 oblivious to fact that J1 was upset.

Anyways by the time her class time, I was really shagged, and when I took her home, she started to whine about not bringing her milk. But she has learnt not to whine when I am tired.

Also another issue cropped up. J2's school will be having a mother's day outing, and with the mom not around, I wonder how J2 will react. I think I am just being overprotective, but we will see how the drama pans out.

We got home in time to do a story, and J1 was waiting on the computer for you to call, but had to set her right that you are working and that you'd call on the weekend. So this weekend, you better wait for us to get back from our swimming tests and talk to them.

Day 17:

Just sent J1 to school and I think this is the earliest we have ever left for school 635 am. So when we got there, none of her buddies were there yet, and I sat with her until Esther came by and then I left both of them alone, since I'll be like the lamp-post. No problems in the morning, and the same lately.

Also she scored 3 x 100 and 1 x 98 for her ting xie, so she has put in her hard work and I think deserves a small treat. Mrs lee also called to say that she has passed the syllabus and worksheet from the time we are away. Additional stuff will be provided by Kah Yuen. Also J1 may get to sit for her SA1 together with everyone else as the exams were slated to happen the week of our departure. So we will see and keep her on her toes.

J2 as usual had little problems. Seems to be eating better. She's still wet at night, so I guess we will have to bring with us her diapers. 

J3 in the morning was fine, but I think she has regressed again. Last afternoon, again she didn't want to take her cat nap and was energetic, so we went for a walk and J2 and J3 wanted to go swim (my mom had also gone for her exercise as no kids around) , so left J1 at Jasmine's and took 2 and 3 down. All were ok, until we got up when 3's adrenaline wore out and she was a terror all night long. Nearly gave her one good smack. This morning, more of the same as she's yelling for poh poh.

Day 18:

Thankfully Friday did not have much problems. 

J1 went to school early and did not have any problems waking up as did J2 and J3.

Today being the last day of the school week, decided to be more relaxed with the kids and took them down for a quick walk and run, but most off all to keep them off the pool in preparation of the nassa test tomorrow.

J2 is still a bit apprehensive on her bronze test, and I have told her it was a practice session in a new pool with other students, and she seemed to calm down a bit after that.

Day 19:

This is the big day, J1 is sitting for her Silver medallion (at 7+ years old) and J2 for her bronze (at 5 yo)

Morning was relaxed and did some packing for the big trip in a months time. And got the kids to eat their lunch early and then got prepped to go to Queenstown for the test. The swimming coach, uncle saw took a ride with us, which was good as it made the girls a bit more relaxed.

As j1 got ready for her silver, I spoke with Mr saw that J2 was a bit apprehensive, and being the experienced coach that he is, he took J2 down to the pool to get her to warm up and just get relaxed with the pool and water. THis worked out great as she didn't want to get up after that.

J1 as usualy breezed through her silver although she kept muddling with her cap as it was threatening to slide off, so that slowed her down, but overall, she was great.

Now for the biggie and J2 was quite excited to get it going and get it over and done. She was the shortest of the group, which is unusual because she's the tallest in her age group, and this goes to show that she was indeed the youngest of the bunch.

As expected she didn't swim the fastest and had a bit of trouble with the float making part, but mr saw went to give her encouragement and she got it done.

In fact, I am so proud of her as part of the exam was to dive to the bottom of the pool and the examiner pick her as an example to 2 older boys on how it should be done.

I had a series of videos taken from my phone and this was quickly uploaded to youtube for the mom to see. the mom had a running commentary on skype/fring so she was virtually in the thick of things as well.. almost like live blogging.

Day 20:

Was a bad day as I had a lot of trouble sleeping.

So through the day I was in a bad mood, and the kids got to skype with the mom.

Worked a bit more on the holiday itinerary, but that is all about what I want to say about sunday.

Adventures in Daddlyland: Day 15

The kids were good yesterday, as took all 3 of them down for a swim. J1 and J2 to practice for the sat medallion exams and J3 becos she wanted to tag along. Su was down as well to look after J3 while I swam/exercised.

J1 came up with a blocked ear and no matter what we did, she said her ear still blocked, including this morning and said that when she yawned, her ears hurt. Any advice for her? I've tried looking via the digger flashlight, but I don't really know what to look for. Her wax is gone so nothing else there and am afraid to dig any deeper.

Mr Saw said J2 is ready for the exam and she was quite excited about it. It wasn't so when we first got into the pool as she wanted to play with J3, but after some encouragement from Uncle Saw, she went into the pool and did her drills.

J3 didn't sleep until 9pm. Amazing so she was awake most of the day. In the morning, as usualy, was bad. She now doesn't want to take off her PJs, so my mom had to shower her in her PJs. I had a shout at her and that piped her down somewhat, and since I was the big bad wolf, she was more than happy to leave the house to go school, only to cry again when she got there.

But when she got home, it was as if, nothing had happened.

Adventures in Daddlyland: Day 13 and 14

Over the weekend, the kids went down for their pool session and to practice for their medallion exams in the coming week.

it was surprising that J2 had wanted to take part in it, since she's quite young, and the coach said she had no problems.

We also did more worksheets for J1 in keeping up with her studies from school and to train her up for the time when we will be in Italy.

Saturday was quite unproductive as kept the kids occupied and skyping with the mom.

Sunday, we took a heavy breakfast and had a late lunch as esmirada, hoping to slowly pu J3 into the mood for eating western. She ended up eating bread (from the fabulous garlic bread they served).

THen when we came back, got the kids to go to the pool again and then, later in the night, to skype with their mom.

Adventures in Daddyland: Day 12

This was good friday, and the kids had the day off.

An outing with J1 and J2's friends were planned for the Henderson Wave, for a bit of an outdoorsy outing.

The plan went to schedule (slightly behind) and the kids were enthusiastic about seeing their friends again. When the other family arrived, we had to do a 3 way exchange. J2 went with her buddy, G in her parents car. Jboy, came into our car to sit with J1, so J1 had to relocate from the front to the third row of the car.

The kids started with a burst of energy, but sadly about 20 minutes into the walk J2 was pining to be carried, but persevered on up until we reached the summit which was the Jewel Box and the cable car station to Sentosa. Surprisingly, j3 took it slow and easy so she had a better time compared to J2.

Had a rest, and some snacks before making our way down again, and this time J3 was too tired to walk so had to be carried by Su. J2 was really going off the rocker with her whining, so in the end had to encourage her to walk a bit by bit.

So we came back after about 2 hours, and that was it for the rest of the day. They managed to skype with their mom, while I attended to some other activities.

Later that evening we had wanted to go to an indoor gym. it was pouring rain, but we went ahead just the same. I made an agreement that if it was still pouring when we got to the gym, we will head home. So as luck would have it, the rain tapered to a drizzle, so we got into the gym only to find out it was closed for a party! Murphy's Law!

So drove home, and dropped J3 off, and brought the 2 older ones to get their DS in preparation of the trip to Rome, as I have found out that the Thai plane from BKK to FCO will not have the personal entertainment system like what we've come to expect from SIA.

So we will have 11 hours of nothing except eat and sleep and hopefully the DS wil keep them occupied.

So the kids are not acquanting themselves with the DS and so am I.

Adventures in Daddyland: Day 11

yesterday was a bit of a challenge. J1 came home early due to ear pains, so luckily we managed to get her mom on skype so kinda sorted the problem out. We dug up 7 years of ear wax from both her ears, and boy, I was shocked! I hate to imagine how much ear wax I have in my own ears.

J1 was quite open to the whole solution thing and the water spray which she said was ticklish rather than painful. And then my mom spotted some parts of her brain wanting to come out, and plus my bro had given my dad one of those scoops (plastic this time) attached to a light bulb (LED to be exact) so it can shine into the canal, and part of the brain was jussst about to come out.

So ended digging it out plus a bit more. And then asked whether she wanted to treat the other side, and since she had quite a good experience, she said OK. So that was from both ears. She still said it hurt, but more towards the outside of the ear rather than the canal itself.

And yes, no more bringing this up with J2, but I will bring the solution with me since I have a brand new one, JIC.

J1 was good in waking up. Our alarms go off almost simultaneously now, so not really a problem plus she now eats her own breaky while I do my morning business.

Oh update, Uncle saw has passed the bronze and silver medallion forms to J1. The test is on April 18, which is 10 days away. I think J1 can do it, but will need to seek the counsel of Uncle Saw to see if J2 is ready. She can do it, just takes a bit longer than the others. So worried that she might be a bit freaked out if she's the last, plus you know how competitive she is.

The night before was a bit restless as before that, J1 complained it was too cold, so ended with my shuffling between 25 and 26 the entire night, and a lot of restlessness with the kids. So had a chat and asked if they'd prefer it cold or hot? Luckily both came back as cold (as opposed to the usual because you say this, i must say that). So last night, settled back to 25, and no problems.

I am slowly trying to psycho J3 into going Wee Care, but I think after the initial apprehension, she will be OK. I spoke with her, which tumbling about in bed with J2 as well, and the first thing she said was that she didn't want to go wee care because the teachers would scold her. So I don't think that shouting teacher at EB does not help make her want to go school more. So I think the lovey dovey environment at WC would suit her nicely, and also plus they emphasize learning thru play (emphasizing on play!)

But the long term problem is another J1 problem once she graduates to primary school.

Oh, I also met the teacher from j2 speech and drama, and he spoke to me to remind me about the fees, and explained the whole lot to him, but he's no in charge anwyays. But he said that J2 is making an effort to learn and participate, which is good. I said I couldn't speak, but too old to join his class.

It's been quite an experience having all 3 at the same time, and luckily my mom is handling J3 since she's the most tempermental. 

Adventures in Daddyland: Day 10

A bit of excitement today for all the wrong reasons. Italy (where the mom is) was hit by an earthquake. When I spoke with the missus, there was no problem on her side of town, but then was buzzed by a cuz who said there were fatalities. So called my ma-in-law to convey that she was OK, only for the comm to be mis-comm as I mentioned "she's sorta OK", which the ma-in-law took as NOT OK.

I think the kids have gotten into the routine. J1 was happy (surprise surprise) coming back from school. She did well for her ting xie. The new one she got 95, and the repeat, she obtained 100. So congratulated her on her effort. She also did some of the math CA1 (which had just passed), but didn't wanna push her as she had her Mandarin class shortly after.

Then went down to swim with j1 and j2. Had j1 do 6 laps before allowing her to go play with saki. Saki had her fins down, so she tried on for 2 laps. She swims faster than me now. J2 had a good 6 laps around the pool (as opposed to to and fro, Saw got them to swim round the perimeter of the pool). Mostly all of them did the froggy, which I must say should be her fav style as she could swim as fast a P3 girl in the same class. 

THen they did the survival test, and must say that J2 has a bit of problem tying the ends of the pants tog (which is normal as her fine motor skills not all there yet), but she persevered until she got it done. So gotta get her to practice tying at home when possible.

J3 came down with my mom for a dip, but didn't wanna go into the big pool. So by that time, J1 and Saki were playing with her, but they game play still is not quite compatible with J3, so after awhile, she played on her own and asked to go home.

I check with thai, and sadly will be on the old plane there and back, meaning to tv screen in front and all share the same tv screen. so will be on my pc and ipod a lot while the kids are on their ds. so a ds now is definitely a must buy.

THis morning, no more 530 wakeup call. J1 again had no problems getting up, and was rewarded with a chance meeting with her best friend this morning, although we got to school at 7.

J2 woke up on her own and was dry. she didn't get her night milk and got her to pu before sleeping.

J3... nothing new to report, except she finally pm this morning, and agan asking for my mom. I think she's reacting to you being away by sticking like a leech to my mom. But otherwise, she is ok.

So anyways, as written, it will be a short call this morning as my meetings from yeterday got bumped to today. so back to back from 1 pm to 6 pm. Also will do maiolini's check later as the euro had gone to 2.012 so better grab the chance fore it goes away again. also will change another euro 1 k for us.

Adventures in Daddyland: Days 8 and 9

THis marks the first week of me shouldering more of the family responsibilities in view of the absence of my wife, who is away for 6 months for her advanced training.

Days 8 and 9 were relatively uneventful, in the bad sense.

Day 8: 

It was the day of shuttling the kids to their ballet and stuff.

THe only unfortunate incident was with J1's extra work, as trying to put her through her paces in time for the SA1 exams. She seems to be having problems with the 5 tens and 50 tens and the like, and the other weakness is the x is 12 less than y sort of questions. So we got into a heated argument as she was not even trying to get through the questions.

Felt bad afterwards, and will need to make her more questions for her to try out.

We all went for a swim later, and patched things up with J1.

The kids knocked off around 930 pm and J2 got up on her own in the morning, and went to the toilet and did stuff on her own. sadly she wasn't dry, you gotta give her credit for being independent.

I brushed their teeth for the morning, and then got J1 to do her english paper. She did reasonably well, but still with some mistakes, while the other 2 kids were playing outside.

Day 9:

Just after dinner and sitting in front of the computer. Dinner was hor fun, except new stall. The old one is no more, so had to experiment again. The faux pas this time is that I didn;t know that the sour chilly was put into the noodles, so had to scramble  to clear the noodles of the chilly, but overall no drama from the chilly incident. The hor fun is OK, but the hokkien char sucks. So back to KL or another stall to get our fill.

YC's was good. Pretty much the whole wee care clan was there, and J3 had a good time playing with her future class mate casey. The older girls (including ours) were stuck playing Kate's DS as well as Maya's new toy.

It was penang food, and it seems her dad (YC's) knows the chef personally as they were chatting away like old friends. but sadly did not have my fill of food as had to take care of the kids, and often times, they were in 3 different places and 2 adults. Had a good time catching up with my bros (mainly Lawrence and TS) and also did the courtesy chat with the snooties. nicholas was there as well as was Ling, so chatted also a bit with them. Laz's sister was also there so sat with her a bit to chat since she was kinda sitting on her own. So the secret's out about the trip and everyone was asking how I was coping! And also how the girls were coping.

Then j2 and j1 went on and on the ds, and was considering going to sim lim to get it. The on second thoughts decided to do more research on the ds from sim lim and just too many stories. besides as they say, if its too good to be true, it probably is. So checked out 2 shops at clementi central and perhaps have found our outlet for purchase. the market price without bundle and in store warranty of 3 months is about 180. One shop gave a bundle of 229. So my thoughts are to get one withouth bundle and one with bundle and get them 2/3 original games. But just need to set strict ground-rules.

Also took them to the bday playground, and managed to get in on the dot 5 pm, so we left at 6 pm when they closed. I managed to do some more reading on the proposed trips, and we may decide to skip milan and go to the mountains instead where they have cable car going up the mountains. I think that would be more interesting than just seeing more churches. 

Adventures in Daddyland: day 7

yesterday was a good day where the gals were concerned. J1 has no issues in the afternoon and evening time with her homework and such, although true to her nature, it all pops up at 930 just before she goes to bed. her concern this time was her ting xie, and not the most recent one but the one where she had to repeat the exercise for getting 75. So we got up early this morning to get that done. she got slightly grumbly, but i guess it was more the combination of waking up early and anxiety.

J2 was slightly wet this morning, and she got up on her own to go poo. She had her drink at 8 pm and then nothing else to drink. I think she'll be ok in a week or 2. may not make it dry to rome, but she's getting there. Again no problems with her.

J3 as usual went to bed a 7 and woke up a short while later, but she lazed on the couch the entire evening. And as usual, don;t wanna go school. Su had to bribe her with a lollipop in the morning to get her to go.

Took the kids out for a swim yesterday, incl J3 which would be her first dip since falling sick. J1 did 6 laps, J2 4. J3 did about 1.5 laps before they all went to the small pool. I was hoping to tire J3 out so that she'd go straight to bed at 8, but the plan was not fool proof. She knocked off after dinner at 7 and then woke up at 730. Luckily for all of us, she kinda lazed around the couch and spent the whole evening nursing her drink (milk, what did you think?) and in the process got her top all wet, so had to change her top before bed. Was told by mom that she went to sleep around 11 pm.

Work as usual is busy, but like a friend said: much of the work has speculative outcomes, so perhaps a 5% chance of success. but as I repeat my mantra: gotta try, else the only answer will be a No.