The Malaysian Insider

MARCH 14 — As an English teacher, I could not help but be in awe of our 6th Prime Minister’s spoken English. I was watching Dato’ Seri Najib’s inaugural speech as Prime Minister recently and I noticed he speaks English well. He articulated his thoughts well and he enunciates when he speaks, something which I can learn since I talk as fast as a bullet train and end up confusing everyone.

As a leader, he seems to be rather unperturbed about the many controversies surrounding him and is always seen with a smiling face. My friend, Mud, told me that perhaps this is because our PM is not trying to be the class president. He is not trying to be popular, he is just trying to do his job the best he could; a view which I have to agree with. He is after all, the prime minister of Malaysia.

To me, he seems like everyone’s favourite grandfather. Always smiling, and ever the patient man, he seems to be rather laidback and yet, active and involved at the same time.

MARCH 10 — Do you have a Facebook account? If you don’t, then I’m sorry, you’re just not that cool. Facebook to the current society is like the air that we breathe, the water that we drink and the food that we consume.

Not having a Facebook account is similar to admitting you have no friends because if you have friends, then they would have Facebook accounts.

They would have you on their “Friends List” but you’re not there so you must not have any friends.

MARCH 3 — So my sister is getting married in a few months. Yes, my younger sister. And no, I am not jealous at all about it.

For some reason though, some of the people I had told of about her wedding seemed to think that because I am still single with no plans of marriage in the near future, I would be upset about her wedding.

They even asked me outright whether I felt jealous or embarrassed that she was getting married before me.

FEB 17 — I used to live in a low-cost flat alone before I moved to live with friends earlier this year. I had been living alone since I moved to the city I’m in now, and I thought I could make do without the trouble of living with a person I barely knew. Sure, living with friends can be quite fun but not when you get a housemate who makes home seems like hell for you.

If you are familiar with flats, you know that whatever goes on at your neighbour’s or outside, you are bound to hear it. So I have heard mothers screaming their heads off yelling at their kids, guys trying out their new car stereo at ten in the night, and couples fighting in the wee hours of the morning.

FEB 10 — A few weeks into the school term and I have already received quite a few phone calls from parents regarding after-school tuition. The last few years, I did offer homework assistance and extra coaching after school, but since I am now working in the afternoon session, I decided not to offer that help this year. Work is taxing and can be quite stressful, what with adjusting to the new environment, etc, I feel like I could make do without the extra work tuition will bring me.

Tuition seems to be a major concern for parents these days. If school teachers offer tuition classes, you can bet that the students will be scrambling to fill up the classes, especially if he or she  is known to be a great teacher. Someone who is a ‘Guru Cemerlang’ (Excellent Teacher) or has been teaching for a long time usually can, and will charge more. Their classes would be much sought after and if the students produce great results, which in Malaysian context means a long string of As, then you can bet your top Ringgit that more students will register for the next school term.

During my first year of teaching, I decided to just wait and see, and learn more before even considering giving tuition. I was after all just a new teacher, and felt that my inexperience and lack of familiarity with the exam formats would not be fair to the students.