The 2009 National School Resource Centre Excellence Award

I'm having a time constraint today in the sense that I'm spending some time to do a write-up on this recent event. I'm going to have this article uploaded on the portal and also get it published in the bulletin @ magazine @ newspaper @ newsletter. Wow! How nice it is to kill a few birds with one stone.

Here is the article mentioned. (In Malay. Ok, I get it but what to do?)

ANUGERAH PUSAT SUMBER SEKOLAH PERINGKAT KEBANGSAAN 2009 MERIAH


Tetap meriah! Begitulah suasana sepanjang penganugerahan Pusat Sumber Sekolah Peringkat Kebangsaan 2009 yang disambut secara sederhana dalam merealisasikan langkah perbelanjaan berhemah.

Anugerah bagi keempat-empat kategori Anugerah tersebut telah disampaikan oleh Timbalan Menteri Pelajaran, YB Datuk Dr. Mohd. Puad Zarkashi dalam Majlis Hari Kualiti KPM 2009 yang diadakan pada 30 Disember 2009 di Auditorium Parcel E, Kompleks Pentadbiran Persekutuan Putrajaya.

12 daripada 56 Pusat Sumber Sekolah yang dinilai, merangkumi kategori sekolah rendah bandar, sekolah rendah luar bandar, sekolah menengah bandar dan sekolah menengah luar bandar, telah dinobatkan sebagai pemenang. Para pemenang menerima trofi, sijil dan hadiah iringan.

Dalam ucapan beliau, YB Datuk Mohd. Puad menegaskan bahawa sambutan Hari Kualiti KPM merupakan pengiktirafan bagi semua usaha peningkatan kualiti dalam pelaksanaan tugas seharian di samping memperkukuhkan nilai-nilai budaya kualiti dalam organisasi serta memperbaharui komitmen dan dedikasi untuk terus bekerja secara kreatif dan inovatif. “Kementerian Pelajaran menggalas tanggungjawab yang besar dan penting dalam memastikan system pendidikan negara adalah terbaik dan berupaya membentuk modal insan dengan dengan minda kelas pertama,” jelas beliau lagi.

SMK Convent Alor Star, Kedah yang menjuarai kategori sekolah menengah bandar turut muncul sebagai pemenang Anugerah Kualiti Ketua Pengarah Pelajaran Malaysia. Piala pusingan Anugerah KPPM telah disampaikan sendiri oleh Y. Bhg. Tan Sri Hj. Alimuddin Hj. Mohd. Dom. Pengetuanya sejak 2007, Puan Zaini Kamarudin melahirkan rasa bangga atas komitmen tinggi semua warga sekolah dalam memastikan kejayaan menjadi milik sekolah ini. “Kejayaan ini amat bermakna sekali buat kami semua apatah lagi setelah menerima Anugerah Sekolah Cemerlang pada Ogos lalu,” ujar beliau dalam nada gembira.

Bahagian Teknologi Pendidikan selaku urus setia pelaksanaan penilaian Anugerah Pusat Sumber Sekolah Peringkat Kebangsaan sepanjang Jun hingga September turut menyerikan majlis yang ringkas tapi padat itu dengan persembahan koir.

Syabas dan tahniah kepada semua pemenang Anugerah. Senarai terperinci pemenang bagi setiap kategori adalah seperti berikut:

Bukit Mertajam Railway Station

Pardon me if I travel back to 2009, specifically on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. The whole family was in Penang for a holiday since all the children yearned to go after almost two months of sleeping-playing games-shopping-sleeping routine during the semester break / school holidays. The problem was, mom was always busy. So, since Christmas this year was on Friday, we seized the opportunity to go to Penang and Kedah.

I don't know why Bukit Mertajam Railway Station seemed to arouse my curiosity. I had never been to Bukit Mertajam before, not until early October last year when I went to visit and monitor Bukit Mertajam's Teachers Activity Center's Resource Center (Pusat Sumber Pusat Kegiatan Guru) which is located at SK Stowell. (The TAC is well run by two educational technology officers, En. Rosli and En. Roswadi, and a clerk). On the way there from SK Pauh Jaya, the Inokom van driven by En. Zainul crossed over a railway and En. Othman, the officer at state level, quipped that this is an old railway station. Yeah, I could see that and I know someone who would love to see old stuff. There and then I made a pact to myself that I would bring Harris here one day.

Alhamdulillah, praise to Allah, my dream came true two months after that. I couldn't ask for more. The whole gang was here. So, after going up the Penang bridge and went back to the mainland on a ferry twice (Sofeya loved the ride), we squeezed our tight schedule and made a detour to Bukit Mertajam Railway Station.

I'd like to share with you the serene place and definitely not the type my KLite-kids would see every day except on TV in their comfort zone. If I didn't bring them there, definitely they would never really see, smell the musty station, ring the bell, cross the railway to the other side (Hey, I discouraged them but they did) and feel the old chairs inside the station which are filled with laidback Chinese uncles reading newspapers as if there were no worries. But, I have to mention though that Piya didn't like the washroom at all. (It needs upgrading, I'm serious.)

Well, as for me I don't know how long this railway station which was built at the end of 1911 and officially opened in 1915, will last. Definitely one fine day, they are going to rape this place in the name of development. But the question is WHEN.

P/S A friend once told me that life is like a train. You take new people when you arrive at the railway station. Hmm... Is it true?

Sofeya's First Day of School

I had the opportunity to send Sofeya back to school. My youngest is in Standard Two this year. How fast time flies! Soon, she'll grow up and leave the nest.

She went to school in a van driven by Uncle Hussein. It's been a year now and since Hussein is such a nice guy, we decided to continue his service. So, he came for her four times a day. To and fro Agama school early in the morning, and to and fro the primary school in the afternoon and evening. In the morning, Hussein will come and fetch her from home but for the rest of the day he'll fetch her from Kak Rina's house. Kak Rina has been attending to Sofeya since she's nine months old. Come to think of it, I've always been blessed having been around nice people.

This morning, we came a bit later. It was drizzling when Harris and I arrived at school. There she was in the class; we saw her chubby face who was readily smiling when she saw us. She's her usual self, always confident and in control.

First day of school is like a mini festival of sorts these days. It was different during our time. Parents were almost alien in school. Most of the children were accompanied by fathers and mothers in tow. One child plus papa and mama. Count that and you'll see something similar to a Malay wedding reception. Colourful! A lot of expressions. Here and there you could also see anxious faces of lonely children. They were without anyone. But hey, before your heart could melt and pity them, there would be many adults who would give a helping hand. Oh, I love this country.

Anyway, after we finished paying Sofeya's school fees, we went to see her before saying goodbye. We were quite speechless when she told us not to hug her in front of her friends. My, my... I feel that my little Piya has grown up. She has her ego on her own. She's our youngest and we hug her all the time but now she wanted us not to hold her! Well, we respected her request but not without saying to Daddy that he's gonna miss her little girl very soon.

Life-long Learning

The highlights of my Sundays are reading Mingguan Malaysia and The Sunday Times. Today, I found an interesting poem titled Sepanjang Hayat Belajar by Khadijah Hashim.

I remember when I was in Form Five, I had to read a novel Badai Semalam also penned by Khadijah Hashim where Mazni is the main character. (Got A1 in my Malay Literature for SPM). Anyway, what interests me today is Khadijah's poem on life-long learning. I'm always an advocate for life-long learning especially in my line of work dealing with School Resource Centers (SRCs) / Libraries. It is always interesting to see SRCs grow and move with time and technology even though there are constraints here and there. However, what is sometimes disheartening is how SRCs are side-lined giving focus to academic achievement because it can be measured. But how do we measure life-long learning? The students will be way out of school by the time we can see whether they become fruitful citizens. Sigh... I still love my job despite this.

Let me share with you Khadijah Hashim's Sepanjang Hayat Belajar to help me in saying why SRCs / Libraries are relevant and important.

SEPANJANG HAYAT BELAJAR

Sepanjang hayat kita belajar
dunia ini guru nan pintar
belajar bab pokok dan daun
nikmat harumnya mawar sekuntum
belajar menghargai terik matahari
aura panasnya dirasa sama rata
diterima miskin dan kaya
beralih angin musim berganti
beralih tajuk buku
beralih muka surat
beralih agenda serentak detik masa
sedenyut nyawa diberiNya percuma.

Belajar mensyukuri nikmat Tuhan
seiring pintar berbelanja
tidak boros tidak juga kedekut
barang belian sepadan nilai wang
mengurus masa tidak terburu-buru
tidak leka pada yang sia-sia
tahu mana yang patut didahulukan
setiap kata janji dikota.

Belajar menjaga kesihatan
baik yang lahir di lantai papan
atau di dalam dulang emas
bersih tubuh badan juga alam sekitar
sampah dalam dalam tangan dibawa pulang
sungai jernih udara bersih
rajin bersenam makanan seimbang
doktor dan hospital tidak diperlukan.

-KHADIJAH HASHIM

Source:
Khadijah Hashim. "Sepanjang Hayat Belajar." Mingguan Malaysia 3 Jan. 2010: 19. Print.

2010 Resolution

One of my new resolutions this year is starting my own blog a.k.a journal. I don't know why reading other people's writings always marvel me. I'll be excited reading their writings and the ideas they have.

I write a lot in my line of work but mainly focused on proposals, reports and write-ups. Not really what you call creative stuffs. Blame it to having no time or little time. (Excuses).

So, here I am today with the help of my eldest son, Hafeez, I manage to have my own journal. At the moment, I'm not happy with the layout of the blog though. And hopefully, I manage to set aside some time of my packed schedule to update this blog.

So, thank you Hafeez for helping your mom to make this wish comes true.