An essay.

2) Desire to learn and aspire to make it a better world.
 

  I quote Martin Luther King Jr:
                   "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

         Good day I bid to all whom are reading this. I have been asked to write about my desire to learn and aspire to make it a better world. Therefore, I have decided to write or should I say type, about a little big dream of mine.

       Malaysia is a wonderful country with an expanding economy and progressive developments. Malaysia is a unique and admirable country that grants people of all races to practice any religion they want. In my opinion, I would call Malaysia, an open-minded country. 
    Sadly, I cannot say the same about most countries in the world as some shun certain religions and their practisers’. I would like to put Islam in the spotlight, as it is the most controversial religion now.
For example, I recall in 2010, there was an attack on the IRS Building in Austin, Texas, by a 53-year-old software Engineer named Joseph Stack. He intentionally crashed a plane unto the building. His actions were the united Nations definition of instilling fear unto people or in short, terrorism, but he was not dubbed a terrorist. Reportedly, an US official said that Mr Stack was not dubbed a terrorist for he was not a Muslim. That report shocked and alerted the world about the close minded-ness and hypocrisy of Americans.
   Like Martin Luther King Jr. I have a dream. A dream that one day all men are seen as equals no matter what race or religion they are. For that dream, I have a burning desire to learn all I can about history, politics and many more subjects that are relevant.
  My desire to learn started when I was a child. At the age of seven, I watched 9/11 on television. I was confused at why  the plane was flying so low and thought that it was just an accident. I turned to my parents for answers, when they said that it was not an accident but a planned attack I was even more confused on why anyone would want to kill so many people. What were they thinking? Don't they have families to? Don't they feel remorse? I had endless questions that even my parents could not answer.
    Therefore, that was how I started wanting to learn. That was how I started asking questions and was aware of the worlds' absurdity. Until today, I have this desire to learn about the minds of these people no matter whom they are and where they come from. I want to learn and be as well educated as possible to achieve my dream because the greatest weapon anyone and everyone can ever have is education. With that weapon in my arsenal I can , hopefully, change the world to a more open and constructive mind-set rather than their already destructive one. With that weapon, I can make the world a better world.

                                                     -Hayani Ishan-

Persian made me do this.

Yes, yes, you read the title right. Someone had to make do a blog post. I’ve been busy lately with work and adjusting to it. Not quite there yet though. Proof , is that :

1. I’m writing this on my off day

2. I’m not taking part in the kereta api sarong flash mob because I was too tired to change my off day.

3. I’ve only read the newspaper once this week and I missed my favourite comic strip, Zits, more than I should.

4. I’ve constantly became tired after work. Unlike my co-workers who still can go lepak after work.

Are those enough proof for you? :P Well, you’ll have to be content with them for now.

Here’s the latest news update from Hayani Wide News Sdn Bhd. 

I’m currently working at Dome Cafe. I applied to be a Barista but as we all know, I have never had coffee in my life (except haritu when abang syafiq lied and told me that it was hot chocolate, it tasted bad) Thus, I have absolutely no idea how to make coffee! HAHA. So, I’ve to train first. Meanwhile, I serve as a waitress :D So far, my sifu , Abang Syafiq, has taught me how to make all of the drinks in the tea menu except for the chai latte :)

oh oh oh ! I can also make Cappucino but my foam is horrible. We can’t serve horribly foamed cappuccino to customers can we? :)

Other than that, I now know how to make the perfect mocha and fruit salad, and its awesome!

Sure, it takes up 90% of my time but its fun working there. A real experience and that’s what I wanted. To mingle with these people would be hard for some because they’re from very different backgrounds than our middle and high class city folks. My point of view however is that we should know and understand these people as much as we understand our self. Then and only then will we able to live in absolute peace, because we accept one another and understand what each other want.

I’ll post up pictures of them soon :)

 

Money matters 1

You are currently reading the blog of an inner child who has been given a job. Job. Job. job.

Yes, you read that right. :D I shall soon enter the devious working world of the adults. HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH

In my opinion, I think this should be fun. Entertaining customers and serving them with a smile. It seems pretty amusing :P Also, I would be able to know what its like to be in an organisation and to be at the very bottom of the organisation. It sounds gory to many but I am more than willing to take up on this challenge.

BELIEVE IT or not but I am excited to be treated like a slave. Hey , They’re paying me well, giving me food and i get 2 days off per week. I do not think I’ll mind being a slave to that kind of deal. Other than that, I’ll be working at my favourite mall which is a total bonus :D

So peeps,

Oh and, my Harry Potter and Narnia Frenzy has come back. If you’re close to me and I talk to you, expect me to yell out patronuses , spells and “ FOR NARNIA AND FOR ASLAAANNNN!!!!” a lot.

I admit to be addicted to 9gag lately. It cheers me up and makes me realise the reality and negativity of life. WHO CARES?!

OH OH OH AND AND I GOT CALLED BACK FOR AN INTERVIEW FOR A COLLEGE THAT I REALLY WANT TO BE IN!  Be happy for me!

Taking time of to concentrate on myself was a wise move. Now I have a grasp on my life. Not a firm one but not a loose one either :)

I Thank God for the decisions that I’ve made. Even though I rushed and was a lil’ bit forced into it. It was a wise and a breakthrough move.

We’ve got one life, so lets make it worth everyones while :)

personal statement

I am not the people and places I grew up with, though I adapt to them, i strive to be even just a little bit different. To be my own person with my own unique identity.

I was extremely silent and odd as a child. I would keep to myself, read story books kids my age did not even think of reading for example Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, play alone in the garden, chat with the plants, animals and even to the rocks! and I must confess, I would dig up all sorts of insects from the ground just to cut them in half to see what was in them. The television was never a distraction to me because I found it more of a luxury than a necessity. Moreover, I did not like sitting at one place for hours, I loved the outdoors, the experience of being outdoors made me feel free.

Unfortunately, not everyone can have the same wants, needs curiosity and personality as they grow up. Although I still have many of the same qualities I had as a child, my experience feels somehow incomplete. I can’t help but feel that I am stuck in that murky place between where dreams are conceived and dreams are realized. Let me explain:

My parents got a divorce when I was fifteen. The constant fights that they had before the divorce, during and after it changed me into from a carefree, happy-go-lucky person into an emotional wreck. I became self- destructive and no longer cared about my education and social life. I just wanted to be left alone in my depth of despair. Somehow, I managed to pull through and got myself out of that deep black hole and learned to smile, laugh, hope, believe and make friends again thru Karate and athletics. I finally started to believe and trust in God and people around me.

My mother remarried when I was sixteen to a very , very agreeable younger man. My sisters absolutely adore him and the feeling is reciprocated. Even though he cannot and will never be able to be a father to me as I am too old and he is too young for me to be looked at as his daughter, I like having him around. He makes my mum and sisters happy and that is good enough for me. Furthermore, its nice to see his bald and shiny head around, it reminds me to be thankful that I am blessed with a head of hair.

It took me a lot of self – motivation, poetry and food to get me out of my depressed state. The result was every girls’ nightmare, a fatter and frowny image. I realised that no matter what happens, we need to stay optimistic, strong and never give up on ourselves.

Spending the next two years at Fairview would help me distinguish myself as an individual. I love the fact that the IBDP pushes us to be the very best that we can, and encourages us to be open- minded,  think critically and creatively and to apply what we learn outside of the classroom.  I believe it is the perfect education for me, as it would enhance my sense of independence, security, broaden my horizons and expose myself to the many cultures of the world. In return, I hope I could help the world in any way I could.

Having said that and with a restless spirit and a fierce eagerness to learn, I believe I would be a great asset to Fairview International for this program. If accepted, I plan to pursue my education with a new kind of passion, one that becomes stronger for me every day: the passion for independence.

-Hayani-

This is my personal statement to college I just thought I’d share it just incase if anyone wants an example of a personal statement. Do not reuse, copy and paste and claim it to be yours. Write your own. Plus, mine is not very good.

Politics in education. WHAT?! Oh you have to read this!

Darshenn, a KL school boy, compared his new mathematics and science marks to his old marks. He felt utterly betrayed and horrified. For a person who scored Straight A’s for UPSR, he had done very badly for his first test in high school because it was in Malay. “How could the government to this to me?!” He thought.

Rui ying, a student in a Chinese vernacular school who, as a norm, always scored straight A’s and never had any trouble during exams was struggling to answer her midterm science exams questions. She had not done well in the previous exam and had been scolded and caned.

Huda, is the daughter of a fisherman who is quite frankly speaking very annoyed by the change of language in her school syllabus and also annoyed at her very insular community. University syllabus is going to be in English. By right, math and science, especially secondary school, should be taught in English. She ignores her previous thought and starts learning History. Her thoughts are filled with Hitler and the Boston tea party then, she snaps back to reality. They are not a part of her history syllabus. She frets and tries to concentrate.

Hitam, a young teen living in the forest of Borneo who travels 3 miles a day on foot to get to school doesn’t understand why his mathematics changed to another language after he took all the trouble to learn the English language. He is about to give up.

Miranda, a Chindian mother who is worried about her children they do not know evens the slightest bit of general World History. She reminiscence her school days when they learnt about the hanging gardens of Babylon and fears her children will never know about these ancient wonders and history.

Education in the largest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character, or physical ability of an individual. In its technical sense, education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, and values from one generation to another. As defined by Wikipedia.

Defined as a process by which groups of people make collective decisions or as a term that generally applies to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs by Wikipedia, Politics has a vast influence on the education in our beloved country. One can perceive that the word “politics” is, in fact, a very dirty word in Malaysia. Mention it and the look of disdain would be etched on most people’s faces. Mention it to your parents that you are interested to be a politician and I would guarantee that there would not be any family hugs and tears of happiness flowing.

What does politics has to do with education? Well, politics play the dominant influence in shaping the education policies of the country. Apparently when it comes to structural policy implementation, the interest of politicians comes first and interest of student comes last. Given the examples above, today I stress on the constant changing of mathematics and science in English to Malay and vice versa and the horrible history syllabus we have today.

Have you noticed, during every election, some politician will either promise to keep the education system in English or change it to Malay depending on the state? Well, I have. My feelings towards it are of despise and disgust. It shows that they make empty promises just to win the election and be done with it. They don’t care about us, about innocent students who have their minds and lives messed up with continual policy changes in education.

For havens sake, these politicians should make up their mind. Should they be willing to take the risk of losing some voters to make the education system better? In universities, Mathematics and science is taught in English. That’s why in 2002, Educationist at large breathed a sigh of relief when a glimmer of hope was seen in the introduction of English in the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English but that quickly disappeared when the policy was scrapped in 2009 and both critical subjects will be taught in Malay in 2012. What was alarming was that pressure from political extremist groups and language purists and NGO’s from both sides of the divide was successful in influencing the government in disbanding this policy. It is disheartening is that these groups seem to know more about language policies than educationists and reformists in the field. These insular people are actually the catalyst of the change.

On the other hand we have the History syllabus.

On the 15^th of May 2011 a group of scholars and non-governmental organisations (NGO) pushing for greater accuracy in history textbooks for secondary school students gathered for the first time.

-The Malaysian Insider-

The term ‘greater accuracy’ amuses me here. Does that mean that we have been learning History that is not accurate or more importantly true?! Here is another bad effect about politics in education. The government will try to brainwash us into thinking that they are such saints and that they have saved us from injustice. When they themselves were the cause of all the chaos in the first place. In our history syllabus there are terms referencing to instil patriotism. These terms should been in our textbooks if they had wanted us to learn factual and truthful history or are they afraid of letting us know the truth.

If we are to compare the History syllabus of our beloved country and other developed countries, we can see that the other countries actually teach the students there not only their countries history but also general world history. This means that the other nation students are better equipped with facing the world as a whole than us. Before our past education minister, whose name I will not mention to avoid any controversy, changed our History syllabus, we were just like the other nations. We learnt about Hitler, the hanging gardens of Babylon etc. but that was all in the past. During my 46 year old mothers time I’d say. Now the only History we’re learning is how miserable we were before Independence. In my point of view, we actually must thank the British for what we have today. People who dare to Speak out.

The influence of politics in our education system can be seen as pathetic or disgraceful! The education body of our country should be an entirely different body from politics so as it would not be used for the ease of winning elections. Think about the students. Think about the future. Education is no flimsy matter.

Written by

Hanida Hayani Ishan