A Bulk Shopping Experience At Ikea !
It was Deepavali holiday and having no newspapers to read in the morning I decided to go to Ikea to do some bulk shopping which I had always postponed doing . After that I told myself that I will never do it again all by myself! It's a good experience and it's good to share with those who have not done it ! Nobody can tell me the exact procedures before I made that trip !
The most time consuming part is to source for the items which one wants. I cut short this by going through the catalogue book before I made the trip. I then began to wonder who will help me to get all these items on to the trolleys.How can I manage to get all these items on the trolley and then to push the two trolleys all by myself ? True enough, after checking with the staff, I found that I would have to get the item number and the location before I pick the items from the picking location. We have to make sure we get the staff at the computer base to print out the list of items and their locations before we picked them. Now, I understand why people push two or more trolleys at one go ! There is no staff to help us to push the trolleys to the payment counter.So it's good to go together with another friend.
After I had got the picking area 's staff to help me to get the heavier items, it was essential to have that item list for the cashier.Otherwise, I may not be able to make payment. Then only , I had to look for the trolley boys at the trolleys area to help me to push the additional trolleys to the home delivery counter further down left to arrange for delivery.
At the delivery counter, there are numbers to be picked up to wait for our turn. I showed my receipt for him to work out the printout and charges for assembly and delivery. For delivery the charge is RM65 for a load immaterial of the amount whereas the assembly charge is 5 % of the cost of the item. My delivery and then the assembly of the items will be the next day !
From this experience, I learn that I must never go for bulk item shopping alone. For a purchase amounting to RM1500, one must give allowance for about 4 hours ! When can we expect to do shopping there online without having to go through the fuss of looking and carting the items which are not small or light !
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Why not incorporate Sejarah in the teaching of other subjects ?
Our Malaysian curriculum has good and extensive contents for most of the subjects and we are already tight with the time factor. Why is there this newly announced introduction of Sejarah as an additional subject in Primary Schools? The number of periods in school per week is fixed and we cannot possibly increase the number of periods to accommodate another new subject like Sejarah . Sivik and Kenegaraan at Standard 4 to 6 is already a new subject at the sacrifice of the other subjects.
There is already the thought of implementing school based assessment in primary schools soon to lessen the stress on our younger generation . So why pressurise young children at their tender age to study an additional subject and therefore an additional responsiblility to the new subject? Young children should perceive their early years of education as meaningful and enjoyable. If we keep on increasing the number of subjects , we are actually moving towards a state of no cognitive focus ! Let us have a generation of pupils with good basic foundation for the numerous subjects which are being taught now.
This does not mean that we are not teaching Sejarah to our young children. We can identify the keypoints in Sejarah and then to incorporate them across the curricular subjects. This approach has been very effective when we incorporate Science and Mathematics in the teaching of English ! The pupils learn English with the contents from Science and Mathematics. Similarly, we can incorporate Sejarah in the teaching of subjects like Sivik and Kenegaraan, Bahasa Inggeris , Bahasa Malaysia , Pendidikan Moral and all the rest.
This move will certainly meet the needs of everyone. The happy faces of the young children must be ensured for better success !
Our Malaysian curriculum has good and extensive contents for most of the subjects and we are already tight with the time factor. Why is there this newly announced introduction of Sejarah as an additional subject in Primary Schools? The number of periods in school per week is fixed and we cannot possibly increase the number of periods to accommodate another new subject like Sejarah . Sivik and Kenegaraan at Standard 4 to 6 is already a new subject at the sacrifice of the other subjects.
There is already the thought of implementing school based assessment in primary schools soon to lessen the stress on our younger generation . So why pressurise young children at their tender age to study an additional subject and therefore an additional responsiblility to the new subject? Young children should perceive their early years of education as meaningful and enjoyable. If we keep on increasing the number of subjects , we are actually moving towards a state of no cognitive focus ! Let us have a generation of pupils with good basic foundation for the numerous subjects which are being taught now.
This does not mean that we are not teaching Sejarah to our young children. We can identify the keypoints in Sejarah and then to incorporate them across the curricular subjects. This approach has been very effective when we incorporate Science and Mathematics in the teaching of English ! The pupils learn English with the contents from Science and Mathematics. Similarly, we can incorporate Sejarah in the teaching of subjects like Sivik and Kenegaraan, Bahasa Inggeris , Bahasa Malaysia , Pendidikan Moral and all the rest.
This move will certainly meet the needs of everyone. The happy faces of the young children must be ensured for better success !
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Feeling Good !
I like to reflect since my retirement over things which I encounter everyday. So far, I am blessed because so many nice things happen and by now I had left behind all those unthoughtful and unpleasant feelings which I had least expected to happen ! My happiness is to do many more happy things to make the world a better place ! A teacher is always a teacher to create effective teaching and learning environment and approaches to ensure pupils are nurtured holistically besides trying to help others . I like to think out of the ordinary and for most occasions it turns out to be very interesting . It gives me such a good feeling when innovation generates good actions for implementation.
This afternoon, I was really feeling good when a young girl who was promoting some food in the supermarket suddenly greeted me by calling me "Pn Lee ". She continued saying that it was a long time since she last saw me. 21 months is really a long time ! After a few exchanges of questions and answers I realised that she was a Form 2 student when I retired from the school. I am happy because my young student has attempted to acknowledge me inspite of the long separation and my only contact with her was only on assembly days in the school . Many adults would not have thought of that !
Another incidence was last year's Teachers' Day when I received a red paper rose with a note in my letter box from the 'naughty children of DJ ' as claimed by them. This note was to wish me Happy Teachers' Day and it came from a group of teenage boys ! Many more of these gestures from the young ones inspire me to nurture them further. Some of them are so lovely, innocent and genuine in reciprocating !
I like to reflect since my retirement over things which I encounter everyday. So far, I am blessed because so many nice things happen and by now I had left behind all those unthoughtful and unpleasant feelings which I had least expected to happen ! My happiness is to do many more happy things to make the world a better place ! A teacher is always a teacher to create effective teaching and learning environment and approaches to ensure pupils are nurtured holistically besides trying to help others . I like to think out of the ordinary and for most occasions it turns out to be very interesting . It gives me such a good feeling when innovation generates good actions for implementation.
This afternoon, I was really feeling good when a young girl who was promoting some food in the supermarket suddenly greeted me by calling me "Pn Lee ". She continued saying that it was a long time since she last saw me. 21 months is really a long time ! After a few exchanges of questions and answers I realised that she was a Form 2 student when I retired from the school. I am happy because my young student has attempted to acknowledge me inspite of the long separation and my only contact with her was only on assembly days in the school . Many adults would not have thought of that !
Another incidence was last year's Teachers' Day when I received a red paper rose with a note in my letter box from the 'naughty children of DJ ' as claimed by them. This note was to wish me Happy Teachers' Day and it came from a group of teenage boys ! Many more of these gestures from the young ones inspire me to nurture them further. Some of them are so lovely, innocent and genuine in reciprocating !
Friday, October 3, 2008
An insight into " how to identify a Malaysian "
After having read about Malaysians from The Edge Malaysia recently, I edited some and came up with this edition on ways to identify a Malaysian. As the author puts it, "there is a wise saying that goes like this --" You can take a man/woman out of Malaysia , but you can never take Malaysia out of him/her ."
This is really true because it is not hard to identify a fellow Malaysian in another country.So, what makes a Malaysian?Here's the list.
After having read about Malaysians from The Edge Malaysia recently, I edited some and came up with this edition on ways to identify a Malaysian. As the author puts it, "there is a wise saying that goes like this --" You can take a man/woman out of Malaysia , but you can never take Malaysia out of him/her ."
This is really true because it is not hard to identify a fellow Malaysian in another country.So, what makes a Malaysian?Here's the list.
- We cannot function without Malaysian food
- We eat everything that the pasar malam offers
- We always complain about Singaporeans but our best friend is Phua Chu Kang(may be because rumour has it that he is actually from JB)
- We like to stop our cars at accident scenes even if it worsens traffic jams .If a truck filled with durians over-turns, we have no qualms about getting out of our cars to pick up the durians that have spilled on the road
- Not only do we love our lahs and mahs to bits, but we are also the only people in the universe that understands the word " gostan"
- We only have one forte-- whalloping durians without pinching our noses
- We observe Malaysian time religiously
- We are especially nationalistic if our national shuttler wins a medal or gets into the Olympics badminton finals
- We slam on the gas pedal when the traffic light turns yellow while others in other countries slam on the brakes
- We like to start new projects but never to see them through for a long time
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Save the Serendah International Orchid Park!
Four years ago, everyone was so proud of Malaysia for venturing into the horticultural business of growing the orchids and the tulips on a large scale. Our admiration continued when the Serendah International Orchid Park was opened to tourists from near and far. This park was highly commented by many tourists and it used to be an ideal place for family outings and an exhibition venue for the orchid lovers.
Malaysia has to continue its pursues to attract more tourists to our country to further boost our nation’s economy. We have the expertise and the resources to revive such a park and furthermore, there is a need to multiply our tourists’ destinations rather than to reduce them. The entire area has already been developed into such a beautiful spot from a virgin jungle and to start another one in Shah Alam is not an easy task . Serendah is within reach without much effort.Why discard it at this juncture? Moreover, it can be worked out to ‘ revive ’ the park to generate income rather than to abandon it as an ugly neglected spot. This ugly scene will only reflect the weakness of the country’s management.
Besides, this is a good reminder to all Malaysians not to continue on with this culture of starting something big with no maintenance to see it through and beautiful all the way. There is a need for more strategic planning for any new project by considering all possible factors before starting a new project. Let us make orchid the icon to relate Malaysia to the world !
Appeared in Opinion Page of The Star 3 Oct 2008
Four years ago, everyone was so proud of Malaysia for venturing into the horticultural business of growing the orchids and the tulips on a large scale. Our admiration continued when the Serendah International Orchid Park was opened to tourists from near and far. This park was highly commented by many tourists and it used to be an ideal place for family outings and an exhibition venue for the orchid lovers.
Malaysia has to continue its pursues to attract more tourists to our country to further boost our nation’s economy. We have the expertise and the resources to revive such a park and furthermore, there is a need to multiply our tourists’ destinations rather than to reduce them. The entire area has already been developed into such a beautiful spot from a virgin jungle and to start another one in Shah Alam is not an easy task . Serendah is within reach without much effort.Why discard it at this juncture? Moreover, it can be worked out to ‘ revive ’ the park to generate income rather than to abandon it as an ugly neglected spot. This ugly scene will only reflect the weakness of the country’s management.
Besides, this is a good reminder to all Malaysians not to continue on with this culture of starting something big with no maintenance to see it through and beautiful all the way. There is a need for more strategic planning for any new project by considering all possible factors before starting a new project. Let us make orchid the icon to relate Malaysia to the world !
Appeared in Opinion Page of The Star 3 Oct 2008
To a healthy walk on the first day of Raya
This entire week of Raya holidays is indeed very good for me to catch up with a number things listed in my priority list! At last, my long overdued committment to write the project paper for CASTME is completed and emailed , my bushy orangy allamanda plant in front of my house is eventually trimmed to its lowest limit plus some other things tended to.
Yesterday, being a public holiday, I had the company of my hubby to walk with me in the morning.We decided to try out the Taman Rimba Kiara in TTDI at the early hours of the Raya morning. Somehow it did not turn out that early bcos it was 7.30am when we started our walk.
When we arrived at the car park, there were already so many cars parked there. To my surprise, we must be the last few people who have discovered this place! I have been hearing about this place years ago and I began to imagine the suspension bridge, the big lake ,the beautiful garden , the reflexalogy stoned path and the herbal plants grown in patches to be plucked and not to be wiped off completely from the ground.
We walked through stretches of virgin jungles on both sides of the road and saw some monkeys swinging from tree to tree as well as climbing up the lamp poles . I was more afraid of these monkeys than they were of me. The entire stretch of this healthy walk is indeed made up of ups and downs. Initially, I really felt that I was still not fit in spite of many hours of previous morning walk.Then I realised it was the gradient of the walk path because I walked comfortably on level grounds. It was like an endless walk after half an hour and our destination where there is the suspension bridge is never reached. At two cross roads we walked on following the forward arrow and eventually arrived at where we started.
Looking back, we realised that we actually went to the jungle path and not the Taman proper where the suspension bridge is! Anyway, I realises that my usual morning walk is nothing compared to an hour going through this jungle path. We will surely go back again to look for the beautiful garden path to walk while inhaling the cool and fresh morning air . It is also so convenient to buy all kinds of newspapers , some fruits or even vegetables there after the walk. Malaysians really know how to do business !
This entire week of Raya holidays is indeed very good for me to catch up with a number things listed in my priority list! At last, my long overdued committment to write the project paper for CASTME is completed and emailed , my bushy orangy allamanda plant in front of my house is eventually trimmed to its lowest limit plus some other things tended to.
Yesterday, being a public holiday, I had the company of my hubby to walk with me in the morning.We decided to try out the Taman Rimba Kiara in TTDI at the early hours of the Raya morning. Somehow it did not turn out that early bcos it was 7.30am when we started our walk.
When we arrived at the car park, there were already so many cars parked there. To my surprise, we must be the last few people who have discovered this place! I have been hearing about this place years ago and I began to imagine the suspension bridge, the big lake ,the beautiful garden , the reflexalogy stoned path and the herbal plants grown in patches to be plucked and not to be wiped off completely from the ground.
We walked through stretches of virgin jungles on both sides of the road and saw some monkeys swinging from tree to tree as well as climbing up the lamp poles . I was more afraid of these monkeys than they were of me. The entire stretch of this healthy walk is indeed made up of ups and downs. Initially, I really felt that I was still not fit in spite of many hours of previous morning walk.Then I realised it was the gradient of the walk path because I walked comfortably on level grounds. It was like an endless walk after half an hour and our destination where there is the suspension bridge is never reached. At two cross roads we walked on following the forward arrow and eventually arrived at where we started.
Looking back, we realised that we actually went to the jungle path and not the Taman proper where the suspension bridge is! Anyway, I realises that my usual morning walk is nothing compared to an hour going through this jungle path. We will surely go back again to look for the beautiful garden path to walk while inhaling the cool and fresh morning air . It is also so convenient to buy all kinds of newspapers , some fruits or even vegetables there after the walk. Malaysians really know how to do business !
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