'Plagiarism' of religious sermon: An unethical conduct

The very first day upon registration for my first degree years ago, we were briefed about the unethical conduct of plagiarism of academic writings. We were strictly told of the dire consequences that we would face should we involve in such act. Though I could not say for sure whether the message was well received by all, but I knew not of any who were caught in the act of plagiarizing the academic work of others. 

And so, I am particularly very upset when upon attending a religious sermon to 'witness' a 'bizarre' plagiarizing act in action. And it was a religious sermon. Such a disgrace and shameful. My heart 'bleeds'. And what makes me feel even more bitter and angrier was the fact that the sermon was supposed to honour the birthday of our Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.). May Allah s.w.t. forgive us all for our lackadaisical attitude in ensuring a good succession of religious 'leaders' among the younger generation.

Frankly, I am not a regular at the mosque myself. But, that does not give me an excuse not to enhance my religious knowledge every now and then. In fact, it is an obligation and becomes more so in this present era in order to help keep our mind and heart 'clear' of the right behavior to adopt based on religious teachings. Fortunately, with the technology that we have now, it makes it even easier to listen to religious sermons every now and then, despite the busy schedule.

So, I have my own 'favourites' among the religious teachers in the country. There are a few. I need not mention names here. But, there is one particular religious teacher who is a bit 'controversial'; i.e especially among the religious teachers themselves. He speaks his mind from the bottom of his heart. Making clear of what is wrong and what is right based on the Holy Quran and Hadiths. And he likes to sing; i.e. from the oldies of the sixties to the Hindi songs to the modern songs of the younger generation. It is his way of making his audience 'glued' to listening to his sermon while at the same time 'stressing' on the important aspect of that religious teachings.

We keep a large collection of his CDs and VCDs at home as his sermons are being recorded and sold. And I am lucky to have a husband who shares similar passion that he will voluntarily make an effort to download more religious sermons from the internet; i.e. of that particular religious teacher and others as well. So, when we are both in the kitchen or even when it is only one of us in the kitchen having breakfast or lunch or dinner or cooking or washing the plates, he will play the recordings so that we could listen to these religious sermons, since having demanding boisterous growing-up children surrounding us in most of their waking hours, having a time of our own is sheer luxury. And what better way to eat than with good words being 'consumed' together with the food.

And so, when I heard a 'replay' of his sermons being unashamedly used and imitated ( almost word by word), from the anecdotes right to the songs being sung by this unethical young man of supposedly coming from an academically-religious background, my heart was pounding hard. Frankly, I do not know who I am angry at more. The speaker, for his unethical conduct or the audience, who simply make themselves so ignorant? What was supposed to be a solemn event for the remembrance of our Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. became an 'entertaining' event filled with meaningless laughs and low-class  unrelated jokes coming from a 'younger' speaker directed to a more mature audience, as again, 'form' takes precedence over  'substance'. I could not help but think, where did they find this 'bogus' speaker in the first place?

Obviously, 'Faith' (i.e. iman and taqwa), is not hereditary; and have we forgotten that our beloved Prophet Muhammads(s.a.w.) was 'illiterate' himself? Thus, it makes it even more important to reread his 'sirah' in this competing knowledge era, which is widely based on paper qualification (i.e a superficial form). The simple fact is that, anything is possible if Allah (s.w.t.) the Most Compassionate, the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful wills it. But, I must say, with his skilled imitation, this young man surely is a suitable candidate for our local TV programme : 'Raja Lawak Season 4'.

I am indeed very very angry.

May Allah s.w.t. forgive us all and not take His blessings away from us.

Peace be upon Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) the Messenger of Allah s.w.t.

Of Peace and Pluralism : A 'UNIVERSAL' concern

It had been hectic for me the past few weeks. This explains my 'absence' here. I actually miss my writing 'affair' with you. After all, it is my heart and soul. But, I am not the kind of person who could juggle everything at one time, although there are people who kindly believe that I am a 'superwoman'. Frankly, I love to 'dream' myself to be as such. Well, if only I could. And so, there are of course, sacrifices to be made as we try to fulfill our commitments; i.e both within personal and professional realms. This is one of the crucial times when you have to decide which is more urgent, or more important, or important but not urgent, or urgent but not important, etc., and in the process, you may 'anger' certain people who could not see the 'urgency' of your work from your point of view. Well, to have to decide on this crucial matter is actually a 'tiring' mental exercise.

As it happened, there were people (within my personal and professional circles) with good intentions who wanted me to go out from my secluded 'confined' state of physical being and to meet 'real' people of the world in person, whom I should interact and have 'lively' and 'noisy' discussions with. And so, last week (with a heavy heart, at first), I finally succeeded in making myself to 'physically' attend the 1st International Conference on Exploring Leadership and Learning Theories in Asia, in USM, Penang, from 15th to 17th February 2011. Well, my dear readers, I must humbly confess that it was actually my 'debut'; making an entry into the world of scholars. In fact, I did feel like a 'debutante' myself, ( i.e. relatively, a 'mature' one, of course). And the feelings....? Well, I did not expect to have  this 'serendipity' kind of feeling but frankly, I felt very much 'at home'.

Upon reflection, it is funny thinking how it all began. Honestly, I must admit that I have a friend who have this 'specialty' in making people 'trapped' in the process of doing things that they did not dream of doing in the first place. I must say, he is really good at it. And I know that it is to his satisfaction to have me admitting here, (I could actually see him smiling as he reads this), that I really had had such a good time there. But, please do not think of future collaboration as I will not be letting myself to be  easily drawn by any 'provocative' thoughts anymore. Well, my dear readers, our collaborative effort was not without its obstacles. There were of course, misunderstandings, frustrations, hiccups, confusions, setbacks, disturbances, etc. which occurred along the way as we embarked on our collaborative effort. It was indeed, a time of great test; i.e mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. And it really took a strong faith to persevere.

And so I believe that to most of the ELLTAs of 2011, it was a 'first' time experience to them as well. It was obviously so for the organizers; the dynamic 'trio' in the names of Anders Ortenblad, (from Sweden), Muhammad Babur and Roshni Kumari (both from Pakistan). Though I had not been able to have a personal chat with Roshni, the 'batik-wearing' Anders and the 'sweet-looking' Babur left an indelible impression on me. Well, there must be a 'strong' connection among these 'three', for 'space' and 'time' seemed not to be able to dampen their spirit in ensuring that ELLTA 2011, would commence as planned; away from their own countries of origin. As I am one who does not concern myself much about 'form', I am particularly pleased indeed that there is actually a strong 'substance' in ELLTA.

I also had had the opportunity of meeting other first-time participants of international conference as well as visitors of Malaysia. Well, on the first day, I met a young Japanese chap, Yusuke Suzumura whose fine manners and innocent looking appearance made us (the Malaysians), felt so obligated to help him search for his other country-mates, (i.e. if there were any, that is). Indeed, there was. And we (the Malaysians) were the ones who became over-excited when we met Sophi, a beautiful Japanese lady, who by that time had already found another first-time participant and visitor to Malaysia, as her 'companion'; i.e Suvendu Baral from Bangalore, India, who indeed kindly offered his hospitality should we plan to go there. Alas, our match-making attempt was futile after all, for we could not simply take Sophi away from this kind gentleman.

I also had had the time to engage myself in interesting academic discussion with young scholars who are  both novices as well as experts in their specific areas. Well, an academic discourse with Tyo from Indonesia concerning English language was interesting as he diligently fed me with his vast knowledge on his subject. I also met Gerry, a recovery expert, who is currently working in Japan, whose nature of work I might not be able to compute at this moment still, who nevertheless, emanated a strong sense of confidence and is indeed proud of his work. And there was also Fatima from Pakistan, a young lecturer (both in age as well as in working experience) who made me feel that I was not alone at the conference for we were both still 'raw' in this industry. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to have a long chat with another young lecturer, a local who is now on her Phd leave, Nazuar from UUM.

The Gala Dinner held by the organizer at Equatorial Hotel further provided me with opportunities to meet other participants whom I did not have the chance to meet during the day. Interestingly, I met with three jovial Indonesians : i.e. Ibu Yanki, Ibu Umi and Bapak Adi. It was funny how they innocently asked us (me and my colleague), about the meaning of 'Rumah Kelamin', a signpost that had created a 'disturbing' image; i.e. as upon coming into contact with the word, their mental lexicon conjured up a different image altogether. Well, our languages are said to come from the same 'ancestral' origin, but we do indeed have differences in meaning of the same words.

With us during dinner was also Gioko, from Kenya, who was a sport as he learned to use the chopstick to eat rice. In fact, he was good at it. He imitated whatever Yanki was saying in Indonesian language, though we suspected that he understood nothing of what he was 'parroting'. He actually brought his 'warriors' to the table, and it is his custom of which we know we should have to respect. In fact, he was telling us the other day of how in his village, when a man marries a woman, he can get another one as a 'compliment'. But, when we asked him whether he has two wives, he answered that, unfortunately for him that upon his marriage, there was no other woman who offered herself to be his second wife. Funny. And he was after all, a good company with a great sense of humour.

Apart from the diversities in terms of place of origin and professional undertakings, ELLTA 2011 was also a place where I met some important 'gurus'; i.e. real 'experts' of their own field. On the first night, I attended the 'special' seminar. I felt so 'related' with Prof. Abdul Rashid Moten (from IIUM), as  when I heard his speech that night, I could not help but felt his strong love of Allah s.w.t. and Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.). And I said to myself that I will be his 'student' if he takes me. It was also an invigorating experience listening to the talk of Prof. Michael W. Apple from University of Wisconsin-Madison, whose sharp and critical observations, as well as his blunt and witty remarks had left a lasting impression on me. I also had had such a 'cute' encounter with Dr. Zane from Monash Universtiy, whom I met shortly before my presentation, and who, after listening to my presentation was indeed generous with her praises and compliments. Such exciting experiences, indeed.

ELLTA 2011 was without a doubt, a place which provided me with fruitful learning experiences. Of course, it really depends on how we look at things. To me, from the point of view of a participant, the conference, though young and immature it may be in terms of its period of conception and organization has much greater potentials, yet to be unleashed. In fact, the diversity as existed in terms of nationality, race, gender, age, academic fields, religious beliefs, cultural values, etc. illustrate a colourful existence blended in harmonious relations that make ELLTA one of its kind. Of course, we may differ in our religious beliefs (and that is a fact that will never change), but the fact remains that we can have common grounds in aspects of humanities. And for that, I believe each and every one involved in ELLTA 2011 would agree with me if I say that we do have a UNIVERSAL  concern ; i.e to have the existence of PEACE despite the 'cacophony' of our PLURALISM realities.

Well, having said all these and almost nearing to the end of my writing, you might have thought that I had missed one important point. Of course I had not and did not intend to. How could I be when, with the blessing of Allah s.w.t., it is through this great man that people of diverse background could actually meet and mingle in harmony and share different views of important matters. His name needs not mention whatsoever, even more so in this little blog of mine, but, I would bring more disgrace to myself than to him should I attempt to 'ignore' his great contribution to ELLTA. He is none other than the great Professor Dato' Dr. Ibrahim Ahmad Bajunid, whose 'passion' in his work is so obvious to the eyes of many.

I was actually introduced to his name much much earlier than to the person himself. And finally, at ELLTA 2011, I took this golden opportunity to simply introduce myself to him as he obviously did not need to introduce himself to anybody. I was told by colleagues of his great leadership since they had had the opportunity to be under his guidance, of which I am among the unfortunate ones who do not have that. Well, I must admit that I understood the reasons for the great 'admiration' that people have of him. I do not wish to be great myself, but I would be a fool if I do not take the opportunity to learn great lessons from this man. It is in fact, an obligation to always seek knowledge to better ourselves and it is even more so to learn from the wise ones whom we have the opportunity to cross path with. So that whatever new knowledge we acquire we could further generate for the betterment of mankind.

Well, my dear readers, again I could not entertain you with beautiful pictures of events happening during ELLTA 2011. I have not make it a habit yet to capture events in 'still'  or 'moving' moments. Forgive me for my 'stubbornness'. Nevertheless, I do hope that I have somehow been able to 'illustrate' through my wordy expressions, the 'substance' of ELLTA 2011. And that, my dear ELLTAs and readers, remains very much 'alive' in my memory.

What do you know when you know a word?

If I were to ask you "What do you know when you know a word?", honestly, what would your answer be? I bet most of you will answer that knowing a word means knowing what its meaning is. Of course, that is basically, the function of a word : i.e to carry 'meaning' of some abstract concept or to be a direct reference to a concrete entity. Nevertheless, in any interaction, it only eases the flow of communication when the meaning of a word is mutually understood by both the sender and receiver.  This means that both participants need to have the same 'schemata' in order to mutually agree on the meaning of a "term' ; i.e a shared knowledge based on previous experiences, derived from either personal or professional endeavors. I purposely used the word 'term', due to a simple fact that in this knowledge-based era, new words are constantly being coined to appropriately suit its context of use.

Quite recently, a friend asked me of a suitable term to use in the web he's creating and maintaining. He asked of the correct term to use concerning the payment mode. He was contemplating on using the widely used term "payable to". Still, having me as the person he consults regarding language matters, he feels a strong obligation to ask for my opinion. Well, I, a 'straight' government servant, coming from a linguistics background with a qualitative nature of thinking would always try to give the best  of my judgment, and in this case to best situate the meaning of the term to its 'suitable' context of use. So, my 'bizarre' suggestion was for him to use the term "to be paid to", instead. Simply straight-forward. No 'implied' alternative. The only problem: i.e it is not a 'popular' term.

My friend, who was once a 'Physicist', of course, found it difficult to accept my suggestion since he believes in a 'general' accepted opinion. Being always a 'balanced' person in unchanging environment, well, that is understandable. Still, he repeatedly asked me to consider the first term, of which out of exasperation I told him, he actually is at a liberty to choose the term which he himself feels comfortable in using. My answer was only a suggestion. Nevertheless, coming from a linguistics background, I would say that I am more receptive to change since I believe that language and its users are dynamic social entities.  In fact, that is how language evolves because there are always dynamic people who are bold enough to introduce new words to provide new meanings to the ever-changing environment that we live in.

So, when the term K-economy was first coined and landed on our local shores about more than a decade ago, it became a buzz word. Indeed, I would definitely agree that it is a catchy term coined in an economical manner. Being in the teaching line, it was not hard for me to figure out the meaning of the term. Naturally, it made us (i.e. the educationists) realize that as knowledge workers we need to 'empower' ourselves through learning, unlearning and relearning processes so that we would always be informed of new knowledge and be aware of our obsolete ones in order to continuously generate new wisdom. Many were in fact, inspired to embark on advanced knowledge-seeking endeavors in order to maintain their competitive edge in this challenging global era.

The term indeed has a larger impact on our society and its social structure. Being highly knowledgeable actually puts one at an advantage in securing better positions and status  (i.e both within personal and social domains). In terms of economic advantage, the advanced knowledge that one has successfully acquired, undoubtedly enhances one's entrepreneurial value  which is facilitative in acquiring wealth. At a macro-level, with the knowledge that we have successfully acquired, we undoubtedly become the 'human capitals' of the country. And with the government aim to develop first-class human capitals among its citizens who could further take the country to reach greater achievements in both the local and global domains, it becomes a 'moral imperative' for us (the educationists) to provide a succession of highly knowledgeable citizens among the younger generation. Of course, this could only be done through public education where equal quality learning opportunity is provided for all to ensure social mobility especially among students who come from poor-income families.

Well, this is my actual understanding of the meanings of the terms 'K-Economy', 'human capital' and 'moral imperative' as they are widely used within our social domain. From the perspective of an educationist, of course. However, as a linguist I am  very much aware that meanings of words or terms, more often than not, reside in the individuals themselves. This means that each individual actually carries a particular meaning of the word when he or she uses it in human interaction. Within a wider context of social use, the same term may denote different meaning to different social groups depending on how they perceive the term to be in relation to their role and function in the society. In other words, my educationist' understanding of the terms 'K-Economy', 'human capitals' and 'moral imperative' may differ from other social groups such as the economists.

Being a language person by nature (i.e my 'innate' capital) enhanced through advanced academic knowledge (i.e my competitive edge in K-Economy), I feel a strong obligation (i.e my moral imperative) to offer an alternate meanings of these terms from a different perspective to aid in  making better judgment for self-evaluation and self-regulation behavioral purposes. But first, I must admit that most of my thoughts are guided by the great thoughts of Drucker, who simply posit that : "There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer." This simply means that in 'K-Economy' where knowledge is an important commodity, the economists have to think of 'potential' customers since the present older generation and the existing social structure would not be able to sustain its meaningful existence in the future.

And this consequentially gives a new and different meaning to the term 'human capitals'. Indeed, humans are the capitals; i.e the targeted consumers (not producers) for which the knowledge products are being produced, distributed and consumed. Of course, to have a longer life-span for the product to stay in high demand, the younger generation is the correct age-group to be targeted as the consumers. With the 'moral imperative' of business people is to maximize the profit, they have to make their knowledge product attractive to the ones having economic means by making quality knowledge product as a social privilege that clearly distinguishes the social status between the empowered social class and the others.

Well, this is my illustration of how meanings of terms may be differently conceptualized by different people or groups in a society. I could actually provide you with another alternative for the meanings of these terms, probably from a religious stand-point, but at this juncture, I would say, that it is suffice in making my point vividly clear about my initial question of "what do you know when you know a word". We may speak the same language but the essence of what we speak actually differ in the meanings that we ourselves have conceptualized which may be based on various factors such as the social class we belong to, our academic background, the beliefs that we hold and many more. Still,  in line with our ongoing effort to sustain the progress of our nation and to achieve our aim to become a developed country, as an educationist, I firmly believe that generating first-class 'holistic' human capitals among our younger generation, IS, without doubt, our moral imperative. This, of course is greatly aspired in our national education policy of which the public education is based on.

The role of narratives : A system thinking in action

When I was teaching primary children many many years ago, I used to tell stories ( i.e. apart from songs, games and other 'fun' activities), as a 'closure' to my lesson on that day. And always at the end of the story, there would be a short session to 'discuss' on the moral values of the stories; i.e. in line with the philosophy of education to develop 'holistic' individuals; i.e mentally, spiritually, emotionally and physically. And what other better way to do this than to tell stories. Through my past experiences, I must say that I was impressed with these young innocent students who related well with the stories to the extent that they by themselves could actually 'extract' many embedded values within a single story without me having to tell them so.

I believe everyone of us grew up with stories at some point of our life. And I also believe every society has its own 'unique' stories aka 'folktales', where often the aims are to provide guidance for correct behavior be it in family relations or as members of a society as a whole. Come to think of it, it was  creative of our forefathers back then, to use stories effectively to 'shape' our behavior. From oral tradition to written materials to the use of advanced technology, stories never cease to create a certain impact on how we perceive the world, which to a substantial extent psychologically influence our thoughts and behaviors.

Among the Malays, we are all familiar with "Si Tanggang"; i.e a story used to remind us to always be good to our mothers. It was widely told orally from one generation to another, which then through the sincere effort of those who  had had a sense of great responsibility to preserve the good old stories to be passed to the next generation, had it transformed into a written form. And as modern technology enables a face-lift of a dull appearance to be done, so the 'uninteresting' form of the printed story had taken a new 'physical appearance', which is more entertaining and convincing since we are able to  actually 'witness' the event with our own eyes.  After all, "Seeing is Believing" they say.

At one time, during my school holidays spent with my late grandmother, I had had the opportunity of watching a Malay movie being shown on a very large screen. It was a public show and the venue was at the football field, some walk-away from my late grandmother's house. There were no street lights at that time, so, the only lights available were from the movie itself. So you could imagine the wonderful play of emotions among us created by the story throughout the viewing time, since being a 'scary' movie  ( I think the title was "Mata Syaitan"  or literally translated as "The Devil's Eyes") with lots of superstitious elements,  the audience (in particular, me) sort of understood our 'cues' in making the movie  more 'alive'. 

And so, we 'screamed' hysterically ( and harmoniously too), and trembling with horror when being instigated by the 'so-loud' a sound effect, interlaced of course, with the spine-chilling laughter of the devil himself. We silently moved and sat very close with each other for fear that the devil would just pop-out from the screen and sat among us and stared menacingly at us with his eyes, with a clear intention of devouring us. When things became so unbearable to watch, some of us (especially me) closed our eyes with our hands, with the fingers spread apart though, as we were greatly torn in between wanting to watch and not wanting to watch the gory scenes. Thankfully, to our relief, the devil was defeated in the end, and we went home with a 'renewed' spiritual determination not to associate ourselves with the devil.

Such is the effect of a movie and because of that back then, it was a wonderful medium for the dissemination of religious beliefs; i.e. as an enhancement to the religious lessons at school . Do you believe me if I tell you that our mothers and fathers actually used these scary movies to their full advantage when trying to make us listen to them. They used some of the scenes in the movie to scare us, for example, from staying outside when dusk approaches. They threatened us with the consequences (by making us 'replayed' the extreme punishment scenes shown on the movies in our minds), should we fail to abide to religious teachings. We were made to clearly distinguish between 'good' and 'bad' behaviors based on religious teachings.

But, of course, I will never disagree should any of you think that the ways we were brought up back then reflect an orthodox kind of thinking. You are indeed entitled to your own opinion and beliefs, as I am to mine. And personally, I am of the view that being orthodox does not necessarily mean being wrong. What is more important to me is to always uphold the good values and true beliefs, regardless of the context that we are in.

Still, I am of the strong opinion that stories have more to teach us than just being stories used for entertainment purposes. However, as I had mentioned earlier in my other posts, interpretation of meanings of stories differ among individuals and from one context of experience to another. In fact, this was the reason why I took up on analyzing Jean Rhys' "Wide Sargasso Sea"( a post-colonial literature), as it is said as a 'reinterpretation' of Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre";(i.e. for my masters' thesis). Suffice for me to explain here, that Rhys was attempted to rewrite the character of the Creole woman in 'Jane Eyre' in her novel because  she felt that the character was 'unfairly' represented in the English novel. In her novel, therefore, she provided the 'missing' context in which the identity of a madwoman given to the Creole character in Bronte's novel, would be understood as not an 'inherit' traits from that particular race but rather was due to the oppressing condition caused by the act of colonization.

In our present context, I believe many are aware of the new creatively modified form of 'Si Tanggang' now being told to our younger generation, which also carries slightly modified themes. In comparison to the previous theme, where the aim was to secure good conduct among younger generation, the present one, I personally believe aims at inculcating a bold attitude among our youths especially in embracing new paradigm and for the older generation to be more 'open' towards the thinking of the younger generation. Frankly, I don't see any conflict of values between the old and the new beliefs, especially when both actually aim at inculcating positive values.

Yet, I do see the danger of values being 'misinterpreted' since the present form  of the story is somewhat 'distorted' ( a shortened version), which utilizes only the first person point of view; i.e. that of Si Tanggang's. It is solely his 'voice' that is being  presented to us. Well, to me, taken out of its original context, the meanings embedded in the story (both explicit and implicit), could easily be manipulated. This is why I strongly feel the importance of understanding past events or history  or story to aid in making sense of  present situations. Only then, could we draw a 'holistic' picture of events or happenings so that we could arrive at better conclusions and make informed decisions.

I would like to relate a Malay story I had had read many many years ago. But, I would like to offer my apology in advance for any 'distortion' that might occur as it was a story I vaguely remember. The story is about a couple ( with a baby and a 'faithful' cat) living far in the woods, who make ends meet doing 'traditional' work. Everyday they have to go into the jungle to earn their living. The 'faithful' cat will look after the baby when they are out. One day, upon returning home they saw the cat waiting on the front door with blood all over its face and body. Thinking of the worse, they hit the cat without mercy and killed it. It was only when they went into the house to check what had really happened that they found the baby was safe and sound, sleeping in the cot and not far from where the baby sleeps was a dead snake. So reactive indeed. Well, no use crying over spilt milk.

My point is that there is always a lesson to be learned from stories. In fact, if you ask me, personally I would say that, stories could and should be used if one wants to engage oneself in system thinking, for a better understanding of events so that a better course of action could be taken, be it in personal or professional domains. A holistic view of how essential discrete elements such as the people, the chronology of events, patterns/trends of activities/movements, cause and effects, etc. are intertwined as parts of a system, which are consequential to the occurrence of an event. Simply, in Drucker's words, it means that : "The 'whole' has to be seen and understood and the 'parts' exist only in contemplation of the whole".

Nevertheless, I am not suggesting that any or all stories could be used, especially in the present modern context that we live in today. In fact, I personally find that good stories are hard to come by nowadays; be it the movie, short story or any other forms that stories are being delivered. Not much of 'valuable' lessons to be learned, are they? Well, I guess, one way to ensure the 'worth' of the stories to be utilized in our decision making processes, for instance, is to analyze them for accurate 'facts' clearly presented or the hidden 'messages' subtly embedded in the stories. And only with good analysis that one could have a better perspective.....and then of course,  'to live happily ever after'- "The End".

"Doing what you love" and "Loving what you do"

I am not so much of an ICT-savvy. Whatever little knowledge that I have of ICT, I would classify it as just basic knowledge. Using Maslow's Hieracrchy of Needs as the analogy, well, I would situate my knowledge at the lowest level of that hierarchy. Purely my 'basic' needs; i.e. suffice for me to get by in this era of information and technology. So, one day, out of my other 'basic' need of creating a platform where I could share my thoughts and feelings about 'things' I feel, observe and experience as a human being situated in a societal domain, I managed to create this blog. Simply using the basic knowledge that I have of ICT; i.e. with a bit of 'trial-and-error' though.

Frankly, my drive for creating this blog was due to my 'love' for knowledge. Reading books is interesting. Sharing what I read with others make it even more exciting. But, putting it down in written form, that is the final satisfaction. I actually could 'see' my own thoughts in their 'physical' forms. And that is when I understood the importance of  making my tacit knowledge as explicit as possible so that I will be well understood by people who read or try to read my thoughts. Judging from the 'silent' response as well as some 'transformation' of ideas made by friends in other contexts of use, well, I guess I am doing fine.

Recently, a friend asked me to add some pictures to my blog. It took me a while to think of how best should I rationalize my 'preference' of not adding pictures. Although I find Gardner's Multiple Intelligence as insightful to the understanding of how we should cater for different kind of Intelligences inherent in different individuals and that some people prefer to have the 'visual' effects to be 'spatially' utilized, I have my reasons for not to. And I purposely chose pure black and white as the 'background'. They are 'not' colours, and that is actually the reason; i.e. pure idea presented  in its basic form, and it actually falls upon you to choose the suitable colours to 'paint' my ideas with ; i.e. from your own personal collections, of course.

I know it is selfish of me. But, I only want you to read and focus on my 'abstract' ideas and not to be distracted by other colourful tangible 'things', of which I believe you could easily find in other blogs should you wish to entertain yourself with beautiful sights. And also, as I intend to spread what I myself termed as the 'seeds' of knowledge, I leave it to your own discretion whether you want to let my ideas grow and blossom or, as you wish, to not let it grow at all.  No obligation, whatsoever.

In fact, my opinion is no different than what Drucker once described of what IDEA is when he  defined : "Ideas are somewhat like babies - they are born small, immature, and shapeless. They are promise rather than fulfillment". In other words, you may choose to throw my seed away if you feel that this type of seed does not suit the climate of the place that you inhabit, and you might in fact, know by a hunch that it will not survive even a day should you try to plant it in your knowledge garden, already filled with beautiful, colourful, exotic species of various knowledge plants . The choice is ultimately yours.

There was another friend who bluntly asked me how much did I earn from making this blog. Funny. Haven't you heard of the famous saying that, "Money can't buy Love"?. Well, I must say, I totally agree with this saying. This is all about LOVE. My love for Knowledge and I love doing this. So, this explains why there is no single ad in my blog. To this, I could not agree more with Drucker, ( I really like this man of great thoughts), when he stated that "Economic wants and economic satisfactions are important but not absolutes. Above all, economic activities, economic institutions, economic rationality, are means to noneconomic ( that is human or social) ends rather than ends in themselves". But, this particular sincere comment of his is the one which has the highest impact on my conscience:  " I saw no point in being the richest man in the cemetery". Funny. He really does have a great sense of humour.

So, my dear readers, I must admit though that having a strong love for knowledge, will NOT blind me to the simple fact that DUTY (aka 'responsibility' ) takes precedence over LOVE. I personally believe that it is the high regards for DUTY that will enable one to do something that he or she does not love or to simply persevere in the face of adversity. But, if you have both LOVE and DUTY as your source of passion that motivates you in whatever you do in life, then, I must say, you really have a KILLING combination of inner DRIVE. I strongly perceive that it is in the sincere attempt to execute one's DUTY which might be born out of LOVE that will transcend one's limitation to one's exceptional performance. 

And so, when I read about a mom being charged for giving a false information just to ensure that she could enlist her child into a 'good' school, I said to myself : "This is purely an ACT of LOVE". Of course, my motherly instinct tells me that it was her love for her child that has tempted her to commit such an act. Her pure love to ensure that her child will have chance at obtaining a better future. It was also an ACT of DUTY. Again, my motherly hunch is that it was purely her strong obligation that instigated her to try all her might to 'free' her child from 'inheriting' her present depressing situation; i.e. by providing her child with an enabling condition for potential development. Of course, I could be wrong, but as they say, only a woman understands another woman.

Nevertheless, she really understood the IMPORTANCE of KNOWLEDGE as an essential MEANS in one's life. No doubt, she actually displays a good understanding of what K-economy is all about.  With knowledge being the commodity, becoming an 'enabled' knowledge worker allows one to own one's 'means of production'. This brings me back to my childhood memories. I remember a motto (or is it an old saying?), I came across when I was small. In Malay, it was written as "Ilmu Pelita Hidup". Literally translated, the meaning is more or less like this: "Knowledge : The Torch of Life". And this simply explains why I have such a high regard for knowledge and in fact, silently hoping that everybody will actively engage themselves in knowledge-seeking endeavors.

However, in the ever-changing and fast-paced world that we live today, it is no exaggeration on my part to say that I do sometimes find myself caught in the midst of confusion and and trapped in a  chaotic  environment. And that is when I realize the crucial importance of relying to one's faith when everything seems to making no sense.  Sincerely, I believe faith will not fail to 'light up' the heart and provide me with spiritual guidance at times when I sense that the feeling of darkness is starting to envelop me. And that my dear readers, is simply the power of faith.

Well, back to the predicament faced by the mom, I sincerely believe that we all could learn some valuable lessons from her situation. Personally, I feel that her  'failed' attempt is not merely about championing her cause for the right for education for all, but more importantly for equal quality education for all so that the potentials of her child could be well developed and enhanced. And so, in our quest to develop first class human capitals, I strongly believe  we need to go all out in discovering the hidden potentials among our young generation. This,  of course, signifies the forever importance and the relevancy of utilizing a centralized system of assessment of students' performance. Simply because, it is only through a standardized evaluation could we identify the unpolished gems of the country from all over the place and then, to tap on their valuable potentials.

History of Ideas: From limiting memory to limitless potentials

I was never a good student of History subject. Particularly because I was never good at memorizing names, years and events. Could it because of the 'Behaviorist' way ( i.e the rote-learning method and what not) that the subject was thought back then, that somehow had made the subject not so 'learner-friendly' to me? Or could it be because of the 'fragmented' information that we had to remember that after frequent attempts to avoid 'mixing' and 'matching' the wrong people to the wrong events or to the wrong dates, that I finally gave up all attempts in memorizing them? Frankly, I have a strong feeling that the reasons were actually, both. So, if anybody were to ask me questions regarding historic events happening both in the local and non-local settings, I must admit that my answer would be 'vague' to them as their questions are to me.

But, a comment made by Annabel ('thank you'), on one of my posts 'forced' me to reflect on my cognitive preference regarding this particular subject. It was then that I realized for the first time that I actually had strong interests to reflect on things happening in the past and how they actually provide clear insights to the understanding of events happening at our present time. In fact, having this vivid link between the past and the present situations as inputs to our 'mental model' ( I believe the concept actually is as an expansion  or further explanation to Piaget's  concept of  'schemata'), allows us to anticipate  events happening in future time .

Of course, I am no 'Nostradamus' who could predict the future, but I believe we are all familiar with this famous saying, that : "History repeats itself". Ironically, it is always the MISTAKE that gets repeated; seldom is the success. Still, it is not impossible to achieve future success. Perhaps, we should try and change our 'traditional' approach. Rather than 'reflecting' on the past as guidance for the right solution to present problem in contemplation of better future (i.e REACTIVE), I believe that we should 'fore-reflect' of future success instead, for example, by analyzing present situations in comparison to past happenings ( a bit PROACTIVE,  don't you think?).

And this is because I realize that upon reflecting on 'history', it was actually the IDEA or the thinking that has led to such events occurring which actually caught my interest. This explains why I am able to link the past and present events; i.e. because of the IDEA.  Not the names; not the places; not the dates. The simple fact is that Idea actually LIVES on and 'TRANSFORMS' itself  so that it could be well-accommodated with the context it is situated in. It transcends the barriers of SETTING; i.e. time and place.

This means that in different periods of time, it  takes on different 'forms', although the 'substance' remains the same. It employs different names, occupies different place, and manifests different behaviors.  Yet, the similar 'substance' could never escape the critical minds, though the different 'form' could easily fool the unsuspecting ones. I believe many 'critical' strategists think the same and welcome the 'challenge' of unearthing this 'subtle' manifestation of ideas.

On a personal note, I strongly believe that Louis Althusser had had this 'sense' when he introduced the concept of 'Ideological State Apparatus' (ISA; eg. means of communication, etc.), as a 'tool' to disseminate certain 'idea' as it is an easy way to 'promote a certain societal conditioning through natural ways of seeing the world'. And I also believe that Antonio Gramsci had had a similar sense when he conceptualized the term 'hegemony'; i.e the dissemination of ideas by making alliance with the target group. Well, these are two different forms, I believe substantial ideas could be disseminated.

Let me share with you one example of a great 'History of ideas on woman', where ideas are realized through different forms in history. Actually, it is the title of a book by Rosemary Agonito(1977). Nevertheless, before I proceed , let me assert here that I am no feminist and also not against one. However, that simple fact does not stop me from 'admiring' the great thoughts of Mary Wollstonecraft, whose radical views made her both famous and infamous in her days. Her strong views advocating the equality of sexes, in fact, has the 'power' to lift  the spirit  of women that consequentially (i.e after a gap of a 'century') they became the doctrine of woman's movement.

According to her, men attempt 'to secure the good conduct of women by attempting to keep them always in a state of childhood' and that 'women are told from their infancy, and taught by example of their mothers' that they need a man to support them. Well, if we reflect on the period she lived and the society she belonged to, we could easily see how the context she was in had shaped her  social beliefs. But, what I like to point out is the ideas: (i) to secure good conduct by keeping them always in a state of childhood; (ii) told from their infancy, and taught by example. These are IDEAS that actually live on, although the context may be different.

I remember the 'traditional' Malay ways in which most of the present older generation was being brought up. Back then, it was a 'closed' society. The elders were highly respected and there was a clear gap between the young and old generation. I also remember that children were often being reprimanded by their mothers every time they tried to interfere with 'adult' matters. At times, they were given 'sweets' to distract their attention or to keep them occupied when the adults have urgent matters to attend to and did not want to be disturbed. So, you see, the ideas live on regardless of the context.

We are not free from our past memory, and in fact, should not be so as the previous knowledge still has its relevance in the current context. However, as society evolves, the past knowledge may reappear in different forms. Therefore, I strongly agree with Drucker when he asserts that  "Post-capitalist society needs the educated person even more than any previous society did, and access to the great heritage of the past will have to be an essential element".  Maybe then could we identify the real 'substance' being subtly hidden in various forms or to recognize that the outer forms may not necessarily indicate the inner substance. And also maybe, we could, as noted by Drucker; "identify the future that has already happened",  so that we could adjust our behaviors accordingly in our attempt to create new realities.

To this existing 'paradox', a friend exclaimed : "My God, how could I be sure that I'm not SLEEPING with an ENEMY?!". Well, I believe, if all else fails (i.e. quantitative and qualitative ways), just rely on your hunches, then. So, to all my female readers( especially to Annabel ),do not take for granted of the significance of our past experiences; though limited they may be. Instead, lets share our 'limiting memory' so that we could reflect on them and to transform them to become our 'limitless potentials'. Last but not least, thank you again, Annabel, for the sharing of provoking INSIGHTFUL idea.

Acquisition or Learning? : Towards a meaningful instruction

I remember watching 'My Fair Lady' when I was little. I liked the movie; simply because it just 'felt' good to my childish, innocent, unsuspecting mind. Well, I must admit I actually liked the 'fairy-tale' element of the story; i.e to be accidentally 'spotted' by a gentleman( i.e Henry Higgins- the phoneticist) who then became so engrossed in his new 'vocation' (as he was challenged by Colonel Pickering), to 'transform' the 'foul-speaking' flower girl (Eliza Doolittle) into a 'proper-speaking lady'. 

So, that was actually my first 'accidental' exposure to 'Phonetics and Phonology'; i.e the systematic study of the sound system of a language. It was only many many years later, when I underwent my training as a teacher did I again come across this funny 'business' of producing English sounds 'correctly'. We were only made familiar with the 'articulatory' phonetics( i.e the place and manner of articulation), and its phonology (i.e the speech sounds, forms and meanings of the sounds). Fortunately, I had had more opportunity to make myself 'academically' informed of the English sound system during my studies both at first and second degree level. 

However, I am fully aware of the 'diaspora' of English language across the globe and how its direct interaction with other language speakers of diverse cultural backgrounds has consequentially 'reshaped' it to being somewhat 'nativized', especially that which concerns the speech 'sounds'.  It is inevitable, since being a 'lingua franca' English language is widely spoken by 'people of the world',  who may not have the 'opportunity' of being formally exposed to the 'accurate' way of producing English language sounds.

So, I am in fact, more 'tolerant' of the 'polluted' sounds of English language that I heard or detected upon interaction with other English language speakers. I am tolerant as long as it is 'intelligible' to me, because I am also aware of the 'free variation' (i.e a sound produced differently), which exists among varieties of English (not to mention the different  sounds of the 'dialects' existing within that single variety). This is simply because I am  of the strong opinion that what is more important is not in 'how' we speak but rather is in 'what' we speak about. Yet, I would not simply sacrifice the 'virtue' of speaking accurately if the sounds produced tend to become 'unintelligible' which may lead to confusion and misinterpretation of meaning.

Well, so much of my short 'introductory' course of Phonetics and Phonology to you. Actually, what drove me back down to the 'memory lane' of my formal studying  of this special area of linguistics is because of a question asked by a friend which I could not simply ignore. I was asked of my opinion regarding the 'phonetics' way of reading being the sole method adopted and being applied in language teaching and learning. This is definitely not an easy question to answer. Frankly, empirical-wise, I have no concrete evidence to support my opinion. What I have to offer is purely a qualitative-based personal insight through my own experiential and formal knowledge regarding language learning and instruction.

Suffice for me to mention here, that studies in first language acquisition highlight the 'innate' ability of human beings to learn language ( i.e a notion introduced by Noam Chomsky, a linguist). The 'babbling' sounds that our infants make in imitation to the sounds that we 'orally' produced, indicates this capacity human beings are endowed with. Interestingly, Chomsky also brought up the idea of  a 'universal grammar' innately built in our brain, which according to him, allows us to generate infinite sentences from the finite set that we 'naturally' have. With Bandura's theory of Social Learning to help  explain further of the influence of social context in providing learning 'input' to our children  in terms of their language capacity, I believe that our children have enough experiential learning to help them cope with their language 'tasks' in social interactions.

And so, upon entering school, it is high time that the young learners are  given a 'comprehensive' formal instruction where they need to be exposed with all the 'basics' of technical knowledge of a language. This, of course, includes the 'traditional' study of 'letters' of the language and how they are then combined to form syllables, which then are further combined to form words, sentences, texts; i.e. from morphology to syntax; from spelling to dictation. This process, though to some (i.e the proponent of phonetics reading method) may seem tedious and time-consuming, is to me,  worth all the while since our young learners whose brain is still at its high level of 'elasticity' would be able to absorb as much information given as possible.

In fact, as proposed by Stephen Krashen, who specializes in theories of second language acquisition,  there is a different between acquisition and learning. Acquisition, to him, involves direct interaction in natural communication and does not require being conscious of the language 'rules'. Learning, on the other hand, involves formal instruction of the language being learned. Therefore, if the language being 'learned' at school is the language, which is also naturally 'acquired' at home, the teaching of the language then, should be formally structured. Through formal instruction, they could be given more challenging input that will keep their inquisitive mind to always be in a state of curiosity.

So, this entails among other things that the objectives( i.e. both long-term and short-term objectives) of language instruction being formally taught in school should be clearly understood. So, if learning a language concerns a systematic learning of the language system, then, it should be done 'systematically' to allow what is identified by Krashen as 'meaningful input' being imparted to the learners. This then would guide towards a clear identification of critical components of the language that would be taught through formal instruction, and which other aspects of language teaching such as the approach, strategies, activities, content, etc. will fall into better perspectives.

I personally believe that the phonetic-way of teaching reading is merely a 'method', which could be substituted with other methods of language teaching. In fact, our knowledge regarding theories of learning behavior (e.g behaviorist, mentalist, etc.) would inform us on the right approach or strategy to use in developing our learners' ability to use the language competently. And apart from the learner differences existing in terms of their styles and preferences, cultural background, etc, I am also cognizant of 'learning disorders' such as 'dyslexia', 'hyperactive' and 'sydrome down' among our learners, which pose as a challenge to our teachers. I know of one such method being utilized to cope with the challenge of teaching reading skill which employs the use of facial expressions to convey the right sound to be produced. It is fun and less demanding.

Still, I am of the view that the majority of our younger generations have the intellectual capacity to be highly-challenged with higher-level of academic activities. I, therefore, see  the need for us to provide a solid foundation of language repertoire from which they could draw upon should they feel the need to further embark on knowledge seeking endeavors on their own. This, of course, need to be done from as early as the first day they step their feet on the school compound in our quest to make them 'literate' individuals. Remember the old saying : "Give them a fish, and you feed them for one day. But, teach them how to fish, you will feed them for life." So, teaching them how to fish involves all the nitty-gritty of the fishing 'business'.  

 

Custom, Culture and Beliefs : Seamlessly Intertwined

When I was in my Sixth Form, I accidentally came across a book written by a Malaysian female writer (an apology to her, couldn't remember her name), describing the 'beauty' of Malay customs and culture. Her writing related well to me at that time, that, on one occasion when I was asked by my teacher what I wanted to do as my future undertaking, I confidently answered : " I want to become an anthropologist." So innocently funny. Only with that one reading, I was 'psychologically' influenced of what my future aim in life was to be. But, as fate has it and as already witnessed by all, I am far from being one.

Even when I studied Ethnography of Communication (i.e a method of discourse analysis in linguistics, drawing from the 'anthropological' field of ethnography, since language is culturally-embedded), as one of the topics covered in my Sociolinguistics class, I did not 'relive' the desire of being an anthropologist. Frankly, I did not even remember I actually had had that 'noble' intention of upholding the values as manifested in my custom or culture. Well, not so much of a 'true' Malay then, after all.

But, every time I reflected on the environment I grew up in back in the old days, I could not help myself from 'reminiscing' the old 'tradition', that has to some extent 'govern' our 'individual' behaviors and shape them so that we could be proud of ourselves as members of a civilized society. After all, we live in a multi-racial country where mutual understanding and high tolerance of each other's differences in term of religious beliefs and practices are vital.

I still remember my neighbor (of Indian family), living next to my house, whom after 10 years of not seeing each other, had made their best effort to appear on my BIG day( which was like14 years ago). As I am writing this, my tears welled up in my eyes, remembering how this simple gesture of 'love' made me feel like I am also 'their' daughter, and it is also their 'obligation' to give me away. In fact, their daughter, my childhood friend, whom we fondly called 'Amoi' (funny, as her actual name is Mala), was a good friend indeed, who gave me 'support' in times of need. That was the kind of 'unselfish' friendship and relationship I had had the rare opportunity to experience in my life.

So, to me whether I become an anthropologist or not, the true fact is that WE, the multi-racial society, have always been AWARE of our DIVERSITY in terms of our customs, culture and  religious beliefs. And WE in actual fact, have always been ABLE to MANAGE our diversity (despite bad tidings and turbulence), and live together harmoniously.  If you ask me, personally, regarding my view of my own customs and culture in relation to the others', well, this is actually the 'beauty' of being different that  we have the opportunity to experience in our life, because then only can we learn to become TOLERANT of each other. And that my friends, simply the 'BELIEFS' that I hold. 

 

Grappling with one's true existence: Form or Substance?

When I studied post-colonial theory, I was introduced to various intriguing post-colonial concepts. One such concept is place and displacement, which concerns the relationship between self and place. It actually explains our sense of belonging or alienation due to a transportation of self to a place that is foreign to the self. I was also introduced to the concept of othering, whereby the 'empowered' community, due to the sense of 'superiority' afforded to them by the 'society' based on their social status, wealth, power, class, etc. has the 'leverage' to subjugate the 'others' (i.e. mind and souls), whom they see as 'different' from them, based on the criteria mentioned earlier.

There are also other mind-stimulating concepts, such as double-consciousness, mimicry and hibridity which allow me the opportunity to further sharpen my critical  evaluation and judgment regarding social issues, in general. In fact, these concepts, though originated from the discipline of post-colonial literature, are to say the least, as relevant and applicable to the current context of 'globalization' as when they were situated in their post-colonial setting. 

I still remember one of the assignment given to us by our lecturer , which was to discuss on Wong Phui Nam's engagement with the theme of 'wilderness'. In his epilogue in Against the Wilderness, Wong Phui Nam writes, "Where we find ourselves to-day is a wilderness". It was set against the backdrop of post-colonialism. So, to me, his preoccupation with the theme of 'wilderness' was due to the  condition which he sees as obscuring one's perception of one's existence that results in blind participation 'in serving the imperatives of commodity market of the empowered'.

Well, I could not agree more. I do find myself today, to be in a state of wilderness. If I were to take this perspective and situate it within our current global context, how do I define my 'identity' as a citizen within a global setting? Let me ask you one question, which may perhaps enlighten me on the set of criteria for defining my true identity: Are we the 'producers' or the 'consumers' of global products?  Have we yet, actually established our identity as global citizens? Or are we, in actual fact, being trapped in a state of double-consciousness; i.e. so very aware of our 'local' identity, yet longing to be highly recognized as a 'global' citizen? Ooopppss...multi-level questions.

I have still another question : In the process of embracing the 'global' culture, do we disengage ourselves from our 'predetermined' identity, which actually is our vital link to our 'roots', which relates us to our 'forefathers' traditions and customs; i.e. beliefs, values, cultures, etc. If we strongly believe in the need for our children to become 'global' players, how then, do we determine how much of the 'foreign' culture that we want our younger generation to 'assimilate' and 'emulate' as their culture in their attempt to build a 'global' identity( i.e. a process of mimicry), lest, they will sacrifice their own culture, beliefs, values, etc. that actually connect them to their origin. In fact, the process of mimicry among our generation gives a clear indication of our own sense of 'inferiority' of not being recognized as 'global' citizens.

It is definitely no exaggeration on my part in saying that the sense of 'double-consciousness' which  'haunts' our minds and souls, subconsciously shapes our cognitive behavior.  No doubt, as a generation which is still deeply rooted in our 'traditional' ways of thinking and living, we confidently convince ourselves that we are not uprooting our local identity by attempting to become a 'global citizen'.  In fact, we proudly and adamantly declare ourselves as a global citizen with a local identity ; i.e. a process identified in post-colonial theory as 'hybridity'. A mix of identity.

Honestly, I do welcome globalization. Evolution is inevitable. We need to expand ourselves, our society, beyond our demographic boundaries. We need to adopt a new meaning to our existence in relation to a wider social system. In fact, as knowledge workers situated within a global setting, we actually need to  be able to play the roles as both the producers as well as consumers of global products. However, of crucial consideration is that, in adopting both the roles,we need to be  consciously aware of how we actually shape ourselves or are shaped by others in terms of our true existence. In other words : Do we, as global citizens exist merely in  'form'  or with 'substance' ?

Mind Your Language or Mind Your Thought?: A 'Critical' Question

A colleague of mine asked me whether I could hold an English language class. Funny. Simply because he already has a good command of the language. He said he wanted me to teach the other colleagues (and him) to speak English. Even funnier. All you need to do is just 'speak', and the 'speaking' -practice environment doesn't have to be confined within a 'four-wall' setting. I honestly believe, the minute everybody let the foreign words come out from their mouth in the most natural way, they are actually on their way to become a prominent English language speaker. 

I remember back in the old days, when the not-so-fluent speakers of English engaged in conversation, they simply talked in the 'Phua-Chu-Kang-style' of speaking. And they innocently enjoyed the opportunity to show off their limited knowledge of the language and took a genuine pride in their ability to produce the 'foreign' sounds intelligibly. After all, English is not the sole property of the 'native' speakers. In fact, due to the wide contact between English language and non-native speakers all over the world, there is indeed a 'nativization' of English according to the country it is being situated in. Thus, to a certain extent, we do acknowledge the existence of  'varieties' of English, such as Malaysian English (Manglish), Singaporean English(Singlish) and many others. But, frankly, I am not sure whether there are Kedahan English(Kedish) or Perakian English(Perkish); well, are there?

Funny, funny, funny. But, I must admit, I always admire the 'values' which are deeply rooted in the Malay customs. It is in fact, a common practice, even until now, be it in personal or professional setting, the Malay folks have a 'unique' way of using their language. Sometimes, to the extent of being 'over-polite'. In the terminology of the Malay language, it is termed as 'bahasa berkias'. In English, I believe, the culture is more 'open', that they prefer to be more direct in their conversation.  As a matter of fact, Paul Grice (a sociolinguist), proposed that in an ordinary conversation, speakers and hearers need to share a cooperative behavior so that the both the hearer and speaker could be mutually understood.

In sum, he proposed that a cooperative behavior must be based on four principles of conversation, which is widely known as Grice's Cooperative Principle. The first maxim or principle, is of quality, where speakers must tell the truth or facts. The second one concerns the principle of quantity, where speakers need to provide relevant information sufficient to be understood by the hearers. Thirdly, the speakers must convey information that is relevant to the context of conversation. ( and not to beat around the bush). And finally, the manner in which the utterances are made should avoid ambiguity or obscurity.

In reality, however, we tend to flout this principle of cooperative communicative behavior, as sub-consciously we might be in favor with the "Politeness Theory"; i.e. a theory  within the sociolinguistics domain posited by Brown and Levinson which stresses on the need to save the 'face' of the hearer, which allows him or her, freedom of action. In other words, the hearer upon listening to the request made by the speaker, has the freedom to decide whether to fulfill or not to fulfill the wish of the speaker. 

So, an English language class? I believe that the CONTEXT of learning should be clearly defined, so that expectations are clear, both to the learners as well as the teacher, aka facilitator or we would end up 'staring' at each other in contemplation of what to say for the rest of the hour that we spend with each other. Well, I must say, my experience with conducting classes for adult learners is both exciting and challenging, but the minute I become so 'critical' with my view, they become 'paralyzed' and 'speechless'; which up until now I could not figure out the cause of the effect. Is it the language or the thought?

To my 'adult learners', this is the 'first' lesson of being a 'critical' user of language.  Firstly, be effective in your communication; i.e. avoid the habit of beating around the bush. There is a belief regarding the  strong connection between language and thought although there is still no final consensus on the flow of direction between language and thought. It means that although we are still perplexed at whether we think first before we speak, or that, we speak first then only we think, there is undoubtedly, a strong relation between language and thought. 

So, in shaping our communicative behavior, we need to define the CONTEXT of our communication; i.e is it professional or personal? Then, we will have a clear view on how best should we tailor our communicative style to suit our purpose of communication. Lastly, one final note regarding context is that it actually allows us to develop ourselves into becoming a DYNAMIC person, since people who remain the same in all contexts of situation are actually those who succumb to a DOGMATIC kind of thinking, and thus, unchangeable.

Developing Capacity, Enhancing Capability

I always have a deep interest in knowledge; i.e the kind of knowledge which is in line with my cognitive preference, of course. If anybody were to ask whether I want to further my study, without hesitation, I would say YES, definitely. I find the challenge on my cognitive ability as a refreshing exercise which provides me with the 'drive' I need to always give my best in any endeavors I embark on.

Being 'occupied' in knowledge-seeking endeavors is a great challenge to one's intellectual capacity, perseverance, patience, sincerity; and reciprocally, it provides a continuous drive to always give the best in any endeavors in life. In fact, it gives the opportunity for one to constantly challenge oneself beyond one's present capacity and capability. So, why am I not registering for my doctoral program when many others are eagerly embarking on this journey?

Well, for almost 20 years, I had been in the teaching line. And for that almost 20 years, I would say that I had been developing my capacity and capability as the 'expert' of my subject matter. I had constantly developed my knowledge, skill, attitude and drive to ensure that I would always be in my best form to teach my subject and give my best performance in delivering the content knowledge to my students. I had also contributed to the achievement of my group (panel) and also to the school as a whole; i.e. my actual practical capability.

But, now, I am in a different ball game altogether. Though my previous 'content' knowledge comes in handy with my new role, function and task , I need to accommodate it to suit the current context while concomitantly assimilating the new one. So, judging from my past performance, I would say that I had managed to develop my innate capacity to bear on the demands of the present organizational context, both as an individual knowledge worker as well as a member of a collective unit.

So, why am I not pursuing my doctorate degree? To be honest, at this juncture, I see myself as still being in the middle of a 'learning' process. Actually, for me to be 'competent' in this new vocation, I need to be able to further enhance my capability to execute my tasks and to perform effectively as an educational leader. And it is a 'slow' learning process, indeed.  Not having the experience of being in an administrative post in school, I have to start from scratch. On my own.

I could not possibly anticipate the bigger challenges awaiting me or how should I prepare myself for the unexpected as I do not have the 'helicopter' view of how things actually work within the system. I need to learn directly from the field; i.e. to learn through experiential learning. And when I finally manage to have a complete understanding of the knowledge of the organization, i.e. practices, procedures, processes, then by that time, I would be able to identify the kind of study I should embark on that will enable me to make bigger contribution to the organization. I would then be able to select the right doctoral course that would further benefit my organization.

In any organization, the development of people is unavoidable. It is especially crucial for  us knowledge workers to constantly develop ourselves, as we need to have the autonomy to determine our own task. Nevertheless, each individual has different needs in relation to the development of his or her capacity and capability. Thus, they might want or need a specific kind of development that will further strengthen their strength. For example, some who came from the administrative background might  want to pursue a doctorate program than to go for specific training skills. They might need to learn, unlearn or relearn old and new content knowledge so that they could develop their higher-order thinking  and communication skills. While undergoing the demanding process of studying, they might even learn to develop the right attitude and be highly challenged which will strengthen their drive to succeed in their current undertakings.  

While others who came from the teaching line might need 'on-the-job' kind of learning experience to familiarize themselves with the present working context. A direct interaction with the job. Only when they have understood how the organizational structures fit in with each other as parts of the organizational system and how the practices, processes and procedures are being carried out that they could learn to apply and adapt their innate capacity with the present job demands.  They need to know  and understand the details of the current job and what is expected of them in their positional roles. This is why 'coaching' and 'mentoring' is important in every organization. The highly-experienced veterans or old-timers who have deep understanding on how the organization functions need to coach and mentor those who are very 'green' in the field to optimize their strengths so that they could successfully apply their 'theoretical' knowledge onto the real context.

Well, there is still another group of people who might need a different kind of development. This are those who stubbornly think that they are already competent in their present job when what they are actually doing is to busy themselves with the 'manual work'.  After years of  learning to prepare documentations for various stakeholders when they were in school, it is hard for them to see that what is demand from them in their present job is not to merely pass forms, collect them and efficiently file them should anytime anybody wants to 'check' on them. What they might need is a specific training skill that would make them know and understand how to function effectively within their specific departmental unit,  in relation of course, with the other functions as specified by the organization.

I must admit though, developing people is a sure challenging task for the top people in any organization. Of important consideration is to see people development as a long-time effort rather than a quick short-term endeavor. But, I believe, a mature organization will be able to brave the obstacles, challenges, hiccups, setbacks or even failures when dealing with people development. It is inevitable. It is part of being a 'living' organization.

The MEANINGFUL role of language

Some time ago, a colleague of mine ( of different gender), made a 'funny' statement regarding us, the 'soft' ones. He said that, according to a research, in a day, women talk more than men. Though he did not quote the source, and also because it did no harm whatsoever to my level of sanity, I just accepted his words to be almost true. He disclosed that in average, women talk about 25000 words a day ( I sincerely believe that was the amount he mentioned, if it's inaccurate, then my memory might have failed me). 

And because of that large 'inventory' that a woman needs to 'clear up' in a day, he added, it is normalcy to find women both at workplace and at home, turn into a 'chatter-box'. There was a 'strain' in his voice when he said that the husbands have always become the victims of circumstances since the wives upon appearing at the door, start to 'pour' all the words that they did not manage to 'clear up' at their workplace for that day. And the husbands, since they have small lists of words allocated to them , (unfortunately to them) do not have any other choice but to merely listen in silence.

OK, jokes aside. My personal view on this man vs woman in terms of their nature in communicative behavior, is simple : That's actually the wonderful thing about being different. We can complement each other. It's no fun to have both talking at the same time; who's going to listen? It's also unproductive if both parties keep their thoughts to themselves; what is the meaning of co-existence, then? So, here is the issue of today. Of language. Of its importance as a tool of communication; i.e to convey one's thoughts, which in the long run, as an insights into our identity.

I was born and bred as a 'city' girl for a simple reason that at that time my late father worked in the city. Upon retirement, he bought a house in a sub-urban area and moved there. So, it is true that I had lived, grew up and studied in the city. In fact, many of my childhood and school friends have permanent residence there. But, do I 'feel' like a city girl? Frankly, I do not feel the 'significance' of the meaning of the term to my 'real' existence. I am just a 'plain' me, city or not, enjoying my simple peaceful life in this small part of the country. Now, should anybody ask me where I'm from, I would identify myself as the 'northerner'. But, I must admit that I had the opportunity of growing up in an environment where the 'culture' is open. Where my language 'ability' is concerned, the environment I grew up in did help me to develop my proficiency in both my mother tongue and my second language.

Do not get me wrong. I was not born into a family who adopted the English 'culture', where English was the main medium of communication among members of the family. Rather, we conversed totally in Bahasa Melayu,; so typical of a Malay identity. If we did speak in the second language (which was like 'once in a blue moon'), it went all haywire, with the strong presence of our mother tongue and the foreign sounds both streaming seamlessly into that conversation. We actually spoke 'broken English'. That was my answer when one of my English teachers asked me whether I used English at home. Well, she had a puzzled look on her face, contemplating maybe, whether I was telling the truth or not. Or, could it be that all those years of English language teaching, she had always 'doubted' her teaching ability.

Well, as I was growing up, I was always 'curious' about  and 'acutely aware' of my surroundings. I liked to read; both Malay and English materials ( books, magazines, newspapers, comics, novels, etc.).  To say the least, any reading materials that I had had the opportunity to come in contact  with at that time. I read all sorts of advertisements too; in newspapers and magazines, bills posted on walls as I went 'window shopping', labels and instructions written on the packed drinks I bought to quench my thirst; the big billboards I saw from the window of the bus I boarded, the bus tickets ( actually, out of fear that I might have boarded the wrong bus), and many other types of written communication.

It's amazing how those readings actually complemented my reading activities at school, which were 'limitedly' content-and-context-determined. More importantly, it helped me to understand how to use the knowledge I acquired of my second language in 'authentic' contexts;  actually long before communicative approach was introduced and built into the curriculum.

I was also an 'attentive' listener. I listened to music a lot on those days. The melodies of the 'oldies' always had a way into my heart. Those music-talented people had amazingly 'captured' the right 'spirit', 'mood', 'emotion', etc, and relived those feelings in their music. I was 'filled' with emotions as I silently listened to the  'longing' sad voice of Andy Williams rendering 'Love Story'.  I rejoiced every time ABBA came on air with their exhilarating spirit and catchy tunes.  

Watching the movies further enhanced my listening skill. I re-acted the scene when the character of "Incredible Hulk" said the line : "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry", and I  perfectly understood how the facial expression must go in harmony with the words to have a significant impact.  I sharpened my sense of humor and wits watching Malay comedies alongside the slapsticks of 'Charlie Chaplin', the dumb, dumber, dumbest "Three Stooges"; the 'trendy' youngsters of "Happy Days", the witty lines of the characters in "Bill Cosby Show", etc.

Most of drama shown on tv, back in the old days, depicted almost similar themes that further helped me to think of the embedded 'values'; e.g. of how the 'good' will eventually win against the 'bad' and how we should use God's most wonderful gift, aka our mind; i.e. to enhance our thinking and problem-solving skills, of the benefits of science and technology, of strong family ties and of social unity. Remember tv series such as BJ and the Bear, McGyver, Six Million Dollar Man, Bionic Woman, Little House on the Prairie, well, just to name a few.There were also many detective series such Kojak, Hawaii-Five-O, Charlie's Angels, etc. which actually helped to 'read' the tactics of those crooked minds.

As to my 'speaking' ability, well I watched lots of 'cartoons' shown on TV. I grew up imitating the character of 'Olive' in "Popeye the Sailor man"; it had a catchy tune. I would continue humming even though it had long ended.  And I really liked the 'romantic' idea of being saved by a guy who simply eats 'spinach' to be strong and beat up a bully. Indeed, good food is important. I enjoyed watching Tom & Jerry, for example, and always wondered how the tiny mouse could always outwit the bigger cat. Well, it did make sense to me at that time, as the bigger Tom is too lazy to use his brain that his physical appearance does not seem to give him any advantage after all.

There were other interesting programs that helped build my pronunciation skills such as The Sesame Street. In fact, back then, there were already many 'global' products that had made their ways into our homes. Other than that, I strongly admired the outstanding performance of some of our local presenters, broadcasters, journalists, etc. in terms of their ability to use standard English (e.g. Patrick Teoh, Yasmin Yusof, Adibah Amin).

And finally, how did I develop my 'writing' ability?  I must stress that the process went all 'by the book'. I was made to follow strictly to the rules of grammar in sentence writing; i.e. the do's and the don'ts. I was introduced to the classes of words and how they are classified; which words are allowed to be together and why; how words change their forms and what the forms are; what are the mechanics of writing that need to be learned in order to write correctly; and many more. In terms of my vocabulary development, of course, I need to rely on the dictionary for the meanings of unfamiliar words, the substitutes of the words so that the same word would not be repeated again and again; etc. I was made familiar with the 'flow' and 'rhytmn' of English language through novels, short stories, poems, songs, rhymes, etc.

That was basically how I learned and acquired the proficiency of my second language. As far as second language is concerned, there was never an intention of being a global person during my years of reading and studying English language materials. The motivation was basically and purely intrinsic.  I found it so fascinating an experience to be able to go beyond the limitation of relying to one's mother tongue. Having a second language actually helps to open up the 'window' to a new, foreign world; to expand one's horizon. And so, without realizing it, I did actually make myself a 'global' person, back then, unintentionally. Through the many forms or means of communication available in my second language.

Upon continuing my study at a higher level, I suddenly realized that learning a second language is not all about producing the right 'foreign' sounds, or constructing highly grammatical sentences, or having an ever ready collection of bombastic words at one's disposal should the need arise, or using the right form of a particular word. It is also not about 'prestige'. In fact, I am strongly against the belief that it should be used as the sole indicator to judge one's performance. After all, we need to clearly define the context in which the judgment or appraisal is being made; for example, within a certain working context, which is more significant, the language ability or the performance. If both, then only, make the best judgment. Of utmost importance, however, it should not be used as 'tool' to distinguish people's level of status in the society; 'us' vs 'other'.

What is more crucial is to use our ability in using our second language proficiently for more meaningful purposes; i.e to 'educate' the society. Language is a pervasive tool in shaping our thoughts through the properties inherent in its linguistics system. It could both covertly and overtly influence our thinking, our view of the world, for example, by spreading subtle 'ideological' tenets. Within a social realm it could also maintain or challenge the 'status quo' by propagating a certain kind of beliefs, be it political, economical, social, etc. And because of that, it is crucial for every member in the society to be a 'critical' user of language.

In fact, through my own personal experience, I found satisfaction in my ability to  'critically' play with words to stir 'numb' emotions; to 'knock-out' the stubborn ignorant or hard-headed people, to critically raise awareness by pointing out the 'exact' issue and not the 'insignificance'; to uncover the 'hidden' agenda (the 'unsaid') behind what was overtly said; to illustratively paint a holistic, vivid picture in helping others to understand what is obscured; and many other more things that my second language allows me to do in relation to the kind of social interactions that I involve myself with. That is how influential language is a means of social communication.

And so, when I heard of comments on the declining standard of English language among our younger generations, I have mixed feelings and opinions. No doubt English language is the lingua franca among different races of global and local settings. Having been raised in an environment where English is widely used both inside and outside the homes, it would be a real blow to one's self-esteem not being able to use English proficiently. And also for some, having known of friends and relatives who use the language at home with their spouses and children further exaggerates the pressing situation.

But I know of people who went to study abroad and upon returning, had a modified speech pattern; very distinctive indeed: (i.e they actually produce more nasalized sounds than the actual ones in the sound system of the second language). Truth be told, the 'substance' of their 'exaggerated' articulation did not do me proud of them being global citizens. Well, it sure depends on how you see yourself as
'bilingual' or 'multi-lingual'. It is whether you place more important in 'how' you talk or 'what' you talk about. To the critical assessors, it actually defines your 'values'.

Nevertheless, to be fair, I also have come across some people who are locally-trained and some other, who had spent many years of studying and working in a foreign country, but who still are deeply rooted in their national identity. And these people, accent or no accent, are outstanding workers who have good sense of study and work ethics. To them, English language is the means for them to acquire advanced knowledge to help them making greater contribution to the nation, with the mother tongue as the link to their roots should they have a relapse in memory about their identity.

In a nutshell, I strongly believe in the need for everybody to acquire the second, or a third or a fourth language. As professionals, we crucially need it to ensure that we are not being left behind in today's competitive environment; i.e. globally and locally. However, as contribution to our society, especially for the benefit of our future generation, we need to make it a habit to use it critically, both at the receiving and producing ends.


Well, I definitely have used up my number of vocabulary allocated to me today. So, what do you, my male friends, with your limited number of words at your disposal, have to say?

"Teamwork" Critically Defined

Many people talk about teamwork. Of frequent issue is the importance of creating teamwork in an organization. Of normal consensus is the notion that good teamwork is a determinant in the successful attempts of an organization in its endeavors. In fact, in practice, 'lacking in teamwork' has become an ever ready explanation to account for unsuccessful or ineffective organizational performance. And so, I find it an interesting and crucial a matter to provide my own 'critical' insights on how teamwork should be described and how it should appropriately be situated within a larger organizational 'context'.

It is interesting to point out how, during one of our routine morning prayer, a colleague of mine, analogously related the meaning of teamwork to one that resembles a 'swan-flying-formation'. According to him, the swans, in the quest to find a new place to live, fly as a group on this mission. This is of course, mostly due to the great challenges and obstacles (e.g. strong winds) that they have anticipated to encounter along the way as they embark on this journey. He further elaborated that each and every swan in the group knows how to function effectively as a group without having 'to be told' by any particular swan of how they should fly. Finally, he summed up by stressing on the importance of teamwork in the organization to ensure successful organizational performance in future endeavors.

In general, I am of a similar opinion as everybody else that teamwork is undoubtedly an important factor in determining the success of an organization. However, I strongly advocate that we need to 'contextually' situate the meaning of this term to avoid from falling into a rigid, stationary-kind of thinking that will only 'cloud' our understanding of how actually should we effectively perform and function in our organization.

For a start, let me raise some fundamental issues regarding the 'swan'-analogy of teamwork as described earlier, which is to be taken as the determining factor to the success of an organization. Clearly, in such an endeavor as attempted by the group of swan (i.e the formation of 'collective' flying), the vision that initiates such an 'attempt' is undoubtedly, vivid. It is not mistakenly, a clear vision provided by the leader of the group.  However, to ensure that the group could function effectively as individuals joined together by a collective aim, the leader needs to foresee the challenges and obstacles that the group will encounter as they 'fly' on the mission.

Upon reflection, the leader will then need to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each individual in the group and to position them accordingly so that 'greater impact' of obstacles or challenges faced during the mission will be countered by the most strong, reliable and competent individuals, while the weaker ones, who are still fundamental to the success of the 'whole formation', will be protected and 'scaffolded'.  Hence, the leader has to constantly observe the progression of the group and appropriately 'set the pace'  and to critically assess the current situation with the performance of the group. Should there be any setbacks, the leader thus, need to be able to come up with contingencies to ensure that the group could sustain until they achieve the final aim.

Well, in an organization, this calls for a hierarchical structure. It still stresses on the importance of the leader as  a vision builder and performance choreographer. This view strongly defines the need for every leader to enhance his or her individual capacity in order to capably perform within a larger organizational context. However, another important point I want to highlight is the significance of the role that each individual in the group plays. As indicated through this organizational structure, each individual has distinct role and perform differently but in harmony with the other members in the group towards the achievement of a collective aim. 

Yet, relying on one's niche area alone invites a 'danger' to one's meaningful 'existence' in the long run. Obviously, a great endeavor through a collective effort is not a daily 'enterprise'. Rather, it is an occurrence which is carefully planned to achieve a set target and to be materialized within a specific time-frame using vital resources strategically. Therefore, if we consider our roles as 'mere' team-members who only function when there is a great organizational aim to achieve, we will reduce our 'significance' as a member of the organization should our 'expertise' becomes obsolete when the organization ceases to embark on a large-scale task. Should this happen, totally relying on our 'specific' expertise will gradually and eventually turn us from a knowledge worker into a 'manual' worker, who could easily be substituted by others or become 'obsolete' or 'insignificant'.

As an 'independent' knowledge worker, it is crucial therefore, for us to enhance our individual 'competency' so as to sustain our 'relevancy' and significance in our organization. This will provide us with the 'autonomy' to decide and determine our own task and to set our own course  of action and direction as part of our contribution to the organization viz-a-vis individual achievement. As a matter of fact, if each and everyone of us is able to upgrade his or her individual capacity and capability, the organization would be able to 'flex' its structure into a 'flatter' one. Consequently, this will allow more collective organizational endeavors to be materialized by the individuals themselves, on their own accord, since they independently know how to accommodate their own knowledge with the knowledge of the others to attain the organizational aims; i.e a practice of distributed leadership.

In sum, an organization thrives through both individual achievement and collective success. Thus, teamwork is best realized when the individuals in the organization are both fully competent  in their 'specific' area of expertise as well as in their ability to perform effectively as 'parts' of a collective unit.