Year-end coming...

I tried recalling what occurred around this time last year. My memories are vague. Why was last year (2006) rather un-memorable?

Let's adopt another perspective. I've realized that I spent much of 2006 in KMB. In KMB hostel (prison). Now don't get me wrong; it does have its advantages, and the biggest plus is probably its factory-like condition: a factory for academic papers.

Estimation of Pi
Mathematics HL
Type I Task (Portfolio)






Laboratory Reports (about 1 per week)
Chemistry HL
Practicals






Workplace and Workshop

Bagaimanakah Latar Masyarakat digunakan
untuk Menyampaikan Mesej Cerita
menerusi Novel LAGAK WASANGKA dan Novel LORONG MIDAQ?

Malay A1 SL
World Literature Assignment (aka WorldLit)


Nobel prize-winning Lorong Midaq (Midaq Alley) by Naguib Mahfouz








The first one and a half years:

• KMB Glory Days Part I
• KMB Glory Days Part II
• KMB Glory Days Part III

THE LAST SCHOOL WEEK OF 2006

I realized that one of my most unforgettable KMB weeks was just before the year-end break in 2006. On Sunday night - which extended right into early Monday morning - I worked on the first draft for my ToK essay. I managed to write (type) up to 1,300+ words, and submitted it during class hours.
(My anti-sleeping pill was Set Me Free by Planetshakers =)
I slept from 2.30 to 6.30 pm that afternoon. And then began work on my WorldLit. I conjured a new title that Monday, borrowed a few issues of Dewan Sastera from the library, then set to work. The 1st draft (new one...the old one became history...oh, by the way, I never touched the old 1st draft ever since handing it to my Malay language teacher) was done on Tuesday morning. After class, my whole afternoon was, again, devoted to slumber. That night, I did some Bio studying for Wednesday afternoon's standardized test. Was it muscle contraction mechanism that I studied that night? The next day, Bio class (the test was after class) was held in the LRC, where I got the chance to test my memory on what I just crammed.
I got the commented WorldLit on either Wednesday or Thursday. What followed on Thursday night was close to nightmarish. I've got a Paper 1-type question to be answered (Malay subject - it was the supposed "3rd semester exam", which was supposed to have been canceled, and eventually turned into a "homework" after some students' "no-exam petition"). And the WorldLit to be fixed. And last-day DotA games. And I did not fully clean our room yet that night (clearance/clearing).
Surprisingly, I finished the Sajak question first. It was about 3+ pages, in written form. And I had to deny the DotA games (well I did play a couple games, but that was it). I continued work on the WorldLit until the next day. In class, I sat at the front corner (away from our teacher), fixing the essay on my laptop as I jotted notes on Human Biochemistry.
As soon as class ended, I realized that I had a plane to catch. The airport-bound bus was supposed to leave at 3pm. And my WorldLit wasn't 100% done yet! Worse, the LRC was closed. An unprinted WorldLit won't get me any marks. I think I skipped lunch on that Friday (the best menu, unfortunately). In the common room, I turned my laptop on and did the final bits of adjustment/addition for my WorldLit. I prayed to get the best result; that the 20%-weighting assignment won't pull my grade down.
I'm thankful I got some black ink from Shukran, and a compatible printer from Shafiq (it involved a little bit of running around between blocks...but that's nothing compared to my desperation to hand in my Malay assignment!). I printed two copies of the completed World Literature Assignment, bound them with short green strings, then rushed for all my belongings. I bid farewell to my roommate, got my clearance slip from the pissed-off warden ("Hah! Ape ni? Karang baru nak buat assignment?"), then rushed towards the Staff Room. I felt like an Impreza in the redline.
I placed the two copies (each 9 pages) on my teacher's table. Relief. Finally. It was over.
I was soaked in sweat. Ms Loh was there and she gave Jason and me a Christmas card.
I rushed for the bus. I was one of the last.
Three sleepless nights in five days. It was ultra-hectic. But the best part is that it was over.

Now it isn't as un-memorable as I earlier thought... I guess I was just too drenched in busyness, till I forgot what time/month/year it was.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!


May you experience a fresh, new atmosphere of giving as we remember the day on which our Saviour was born - he who gave the greatest gift of all: eternal life.





Credit: http://appraisercentral.com

Theory of Knowledge

If someone claims that both the division of knowledge into disciplines and the division of the world into countries on a map are artificial, what does this mean? What is the nature of the boundaries between Areas of Knowledge, in your view?

In my country’s education system, secondary school classroom hours are commonly divided into subjects such as English Language, Modern Mathematics, Biology, Moral Studies and History.

In fact, I believe many schools practise this system. . .

Yet, there may be persons who claim that such division of knowledge into disciplines and the division of the world into countries on a map are artificial.

. . . There are adequate arguments supporting either case, and in my opinion, it eventually becomes a matter of personal judgment.

. . . If I were the head engineer of a team responsible to build a spacecraft, my compartmentalised knowledge would probably do me no good on its own.

I would need to put my knowledge of physics to work, integrate it with my artistic sense for the aircraft’s design and at the same time communicate with my team members synergistically for the work to proceed, all without consciously realising that I have utilised knowledge from the natural sciences, arts and human sciences in the process.

© IBO 2007.

Credit to: http://sspps.govoffice.com

Now what on earth is Theory of Knowledge (ToK), you might ask? Good question.
Briefly speaking, it is a "Theory about Knowledge" (epistemology).
Reading the above excerpt might give you some hints on what is covered within ToK.
ToK includes learning about the Knower (persons), Ways of Knowing and Areas of Knowledge, among other things.
I'd like to quote Howard Gardner (Harvard psychology professor) who mentioned the "Disciplined Mind" as one of the "Five Minds for the 21st century". "Disciplined mind" meaning two things: literally (being disciplined), as well as understanding how different disciplines involve different approaches in learning.
ToK is like an outside view of things; it's like seeing a picture of our whole solar system with all the planets and satellites and comets. Each subject (the "hard" stuff) is like a study on each planet/comet/etc, and it is quite a restricted view. ToK gives a bird's eye-view and binds the whole thing together.
Now, you might not agree. But that's exactly what ToK aims to develop: a sense of awareness (of knowledge issues) and logical reasoning.

Observe...Nature 2

A few more of my photography products. All captured using a VGA-camera phone (except the last one).

Fountain: This is in KML.

Aqua: The fish tank in KMB.

Dusk: Taken from Bt Padang.

Dawn: From the astaka in KMB,
on my last morning there
(20th May 2007).

Rain Clouds: Along the
Putatan-Tg Aru road.


OK, I'll be honest. The last image is photoshopped to make the horizon horizontal. But it is a real image, taken from inside a moving car. You can see the camera's reflection near the top-right portion.


The First: Observe...Nature

A Day of Tests...

Friday, 2nd of March, 2007.

8.00 am - 9.00 am (1 hour)
ITGS SL Paper 1 [40 marks]

10.00 am - 12.00 pm (2 hours)
ITGS SL Paper 2 [60 marks]

3.00 pm - 6.00 pm (3 hours)
ISAT [100 questions]

It was the first day of the 3rd-semester "pre-IRP" test, 6 subjects done in 6 days.

And the most memorable of all is undoubtedly the ISAT. It was almost an intellectually stressful, agonizing torture.

Dedicated to God,
CR 182/200, QR 199/200, OR 191/200
CR 94th %ile, QR 100th %ile, OR 99th %ile

ITGS SL = Information Technology in a Global Society, Standard Level
ISAT = International Student Admissions Test
IRP = Intensive Revision Group


More:
Official ISAT page (ACER website)


The ISAT contains 100 questions, 50 requiring "critical reasoning" (language, prose, literature, etc.), 50 requiring "quantitative reasoning" (numbers, math, counting, science, graphs, etc.). I had a can of Nescafe before the test. Pn Sharifah was at one end of the new class block, wishing all of us luck. About 50 of us sat for the exam. I took a seat next to the left wall, somewhere left-middle, and ensured that the desk was not shaky. I still remember the instructor/administrator getting angry at a few of my friends who were late at the exam hall, saying "This is an exam! You're supposed to be inside 5 minutes earlier!" After the formalities and form-filling, I said my words of prayer, gave my all to God, and began reading the test questions.
They were hard. No doubt. I skipped a few really confusing, language-type questions. It was just around 4.30 when I finished question number 50. And I was speeding. My energy and focus drained quickly. After the first half, I practically had to whisper and vocalize (silently) the questions to make sense of what they were asking. I had just enough time to answer all questions.
I felt a sense of triumph at the end of the test. And sure enough, when the test results came out some 3 months later, I saw the 'triumphant' result. It was a victory. Dedicated to God.

A Sense of Accomplishment

Overdue stuffs pile up... Planned projects overlap... Deadlines rush towards you... Time runs out...


Will it ever be over?


It's been 4 weeks since my last entry - proudly mentioned as 4 "fully occupied" weeks. And my stuffs did overlap during that (dire?) period... Two STPM subjects (=4 papers, 12 total hours), followed by a Youth Camp where I was scheduled to speak in a 1.25-hour slot, and again followed by a Christmas Drama with children.

The level of "hecticness" almost equaled what I went through during those IB days. But now it's a different environment: I don't have a roommate (classmate...schoolmate...) bearing the same burden. I turned to God, just like I did many times in KMB. It goes without saying that I let out my words of disappointment, apology, anger, frustration, etc. (You know those stuff.)

I finished my last STPM paper (Further Mathematics T, paper 2) on a rather high note. I was confident with at least 70% of my answer. That's significantly more than paper 1. The next night was the last few hours I had to prepare for my YC-sharing slot. I said "no" to caroling, and I spent the night (late night) preparing my slides. I was glad I made that decision. My sharing was indeed God-inspired - he said "I have put my words in your mouth" (Jer 1:9). Blessed be your name, Lord God!

My paper ended on a Tuesday evening. My journey to the campsite began shortly after, early on Thursday morning. My slot was on Friday afternoon. The theme was "Shining in Academic Excellence for God's Glory"...not explicitly mentioned during my sharing, but you get the picture. I can call it a subset of the Youth Camp's theme: Light.

The camp ended on Sunday night and I was back home on Monday. The sofa was a great relief for my sleep-deprived mind and body. That same night, I was back in action for the drama practice. The last practice (ever) was on that Thursday afternoon. At the same time, more overlaps occurred: caroling and work (tuition classes).

I guess life never actually stops. It probably has some pauses, if we want to look at it that way. What's more, after a period of high-intensity activities, the "sunshine after the rain" - did I just coin that expression? - gives tremendous relief.

A sense of accomplishment.

I must say, "Thank you, God."