Singapore with Family and Friends

Lisa, Kate, Mark and me in Little India

    So why Singapore yet again I hear you say? Well I was on my way to meet Lisa, my eldest daughter, who has taken 6 months off work as a teacher to go travelling and have lots of  exciting adventures. She had a three night stop-over in Singapore on her way to Brisbane and so it seemed too good an opportunity to miss, since I was so close. (Her blog is lisasontheroad@blogspot.com) We met up in the evening at the "Sleepy Kiwi” backpacker hostel where I stayed at in November which is in the heart of the Arab quarter very close to the mosque. There was someone very famous in the Muslim world in the Mosque on Friday as there was constant atmospheric singing all day and lots of women around as well as many men praying outside. In the evening Lisa and I walked to Chinatown which was quite a way but we were rewarded by some satay and a nice cold beer and then walked back chatting and catching up on the news.
   Saturday morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then decided to go to the Botanical Gardens which were really beautiful and in particular the orchid garden with the most wonderful colours. It is huge with magnificent mature trees, lakes and gardens and I suspect we only saw a small part of it. We felt quite exhausted from the walking and heat and ust had time to get back to the hostel, shower and change and walk to Little India for our next important meeting.

 By another strange coincidence we were meeting up with Kate and Mark our dear friends from Normandie who arrived in Singapore on Friday evening too. We have known Kate and Mark for nearly 15 years and got to know of them by firstly being asked to translate the birth certificates for a "strange" couple, American and British who wanted to marry in the small Mairie of a little village where I taught nearby. They have been our neighbours and friends since then and it was in fact Mark who is a physicist and author who suggested that I started a blog at my farewell party in July 2011. Anyway, we met up in Little India and it seemed quite normal after the first beer. After a few more beers and  delicious Kerala curries, we parted company but I was carrying a large amount of children's books that Kate had kindly brought with her in her luggage to take back to Sabah. Thank you Kate!

On Sunday, we did more exploring and eating around the Arab and Indian quarters and then visited the Changi  Museum in the afternoon. It was a nice opportunity for Lisa to see her grandfather's story (whom she never knew) in situ and see the new exhibits since her last visit 8 years ago when she probably wasn't that interested either! I was surprised that the guide recognised me and insisted in taking a photo of me and Lisa together but we're not quite sure why. The next stop was the airport and my flight left before Lisa's so we said our farewells and we will see each other in May when we go travelling in Indonesia together. Meanwhile Lisa is off to explore Australia and New Zealand.

Teacher as Researcher, Symposium, Kuching

The Ranau mentees dressing up!

Iban dancers on the boat

As I wait for my flight to Kota Kinabalu I will try to recap and reflect - Andrew Pollard's catch phrase - on this action packed week. We left K.K. on Tuesday afternoon. bound for the luxurious Hilton in Kuching. Our mentees arrived later on in the evening but by bedtime everyone had been fed and watered and shown to their rooms. The Symposium started straight away at 8 am with workshop and poster presentations. Asmah, was very nervous at the beginning but after a few minutes when she realised everyone was genuinely interested she relaxed and became a pro. about classroom management. Afterwards there was a very grand opening ceremony with very emotive speeches from the Director of the project , VIP's from British Council and the Ministry of Education - there were some people in tears at that stage! Then our key speakers who were Professors Andrew Pollard, Simon Borg and Carol Read all gave very interesting talks and after the tea break in the afternoon it was time for Harianeh’s talk. We were both very nervous even though I hardly had to talk but she managed fine and the 20 people who attended seemed very engaged and asked questions. Anyway at least by Wednesday evening I had two teachers over and only Ruwaida to go. We could definitely relax and celebrate with the free cocktail/beer party in the evening. Thursday was non-stop presentations, workshops etc.. from 8 am - 6pm with of course breaks for lunch and snacks and then only 1 hour to get ready for the river cruise. Everyone had a great time and after the meal the traditional dancing started and we all joined in and some of us were hot and sweaty by the time we docked back in Kuching. The last day came and Friday was Ruwaida’s turn for her workshop. It was supposed to start at 8.00 but attendance started lagging and people were late but despite the late start, she did really well and I think everyone learnt something about “Critical Thinking in Young Learners”.

Asmah

Ruwaida and the puppet theatre

Before we knew it was the closing ceremony and lots of very emotional speeches about the success of the Symposium and I nearly felt that I was going to cry too! The teachers obviously really got a lot out of it and enjoyed the camaraderie and seeing each other’s work and discussing and  exchanging ideas. It was a celebration of the teachers and was a great success and I was so proud of my teachers finding the confidence to present in front of an audience. There was no time for the delicious lunch as I had to be at Kuching airport for my flight to Singapore….

The Ranau District Representatives

Corruption? Of course not!

I went into Ranau yesterday and wondered why there were so many crowds outside the bank when I realised that yesterday was when the 500 ringitts had been deposited into everyone's bank account. This "gift" from the government is a little sweetener for everyone in Sabah under a certain income, who feel that they have not benefited from being apart of the Malaysian Federation. Sabah has a large number of seats in the Federation and it is usually just before elections that they remember this! The Prime Minister has been over this week touring Sabah and speaking everywhere and promising new schools, hospitals, roads  etc... and another 500 ringitts per person if they are voted in again. On the radio I heard that the politicians were also warning the Sabahans that if they voted against the government then they would face a bleak future. Such blatant political ploys I find quite shocking although apparently it cannot be called a bribe unless they are told who to vote for, however I don't think anyone is tricked by such tactics and I wouldn't say no to 500 ringitts either! In some of my rural schools the income of some families can be as low as 200 ringitts per month - approx. 60$, 40 sterling, 50 euro (can't find signs!) and they all have large families. They do however have no rent and most of them are self sufficient and the extra income is by selling their excess produce at the market. I have yet to see a child that looks hungry and the government does provide a free meal and vitamins at school every day. As teachers we are all government workers and we have no right to be involved in any political activity. The teachers in some Primary schools are being trained for the polling stations  but as yet the election day has not been stated but it will be very soon.
   The Symposium, that I mentioned last week, is a 3 day extravaganza in Kuching with many of the teachers we work with giving workshops, presentations and listening to important speakers. Emily, my colleague in Ranau, has been working very hard in organising the event and I hope for everyone's sake it runs very smoothly. Up until today the teachers attending still have not received their air tickets and that was the only thing the government were asked to do! I am going with 3 of my teachers, Ruwaida who is leaving her 5 young children at home, Asmah, pregnant and leaving 3 young children at home and Harianeh with an 18 month boy who possibly who is coming too. We have been working  on our presentations that sound quite grand but we're not really sure what they mean however what we are all looking forward to is staying in the Hilton, no expense spared with a river cruise and dinner on the first night and having no responsibilities! As I understand it, the ELTD project has a budget and as the British Council is a charity they are not allowed to make a profit so must spend the excess by the end of the financial year. Personally I would have liked to see the excess spent on more books in the schools but as I am a lowly mentor I will just go along with whatever and enjoy the Symposium experience!

PS I should be in a better internet next week so can upload some photos.

Happy Year of the Snake!

Happy Chinese New Year! It is pouring so I'm not sure if the festivities will have to wait until tomorrow although last night there were lots of fireworks being set off and there was music and dancing beside my house. I woke up with a real start about 12.30 am as hundreds of firecrackers were set off , which seemed to be outside my window! There is quite a large community of Chinese in Ranau and traditionally they are the ones who run the businesses and shops. The Chinese Primary school that I work at has huge classes (42) but with only half being Chinese and the rest local children with ambitious parents who believe to speak Chinese is the key to their children's success in the future. The school is funded half by the government and  half by the Chinese community so the parents are very influential in the running of the school and English has a much lower priority that Chinese. I have found that it is a very different atmosphere in the Chinese School than my other schools and the teachers tend to be more reserved and not as friendly. I have one lovely Chinese teacher friend who was talking to me about the discrimination of the Chinese in Malaysia and how threatened the Muslim Malays often feel. Many of the Chinese  in Malaysia emigrate to Singapore or Canada where they feel they are treated more fairly. The very ambitious Chinese often convert to become Muslims and they are the ones to watch out for. The ex Education Officer for Ranau is such a person and he has recently announced that he will be running against the government in the General election in March .This seems to have shocked many people as he is known to have "gained" a lot of money by corruption when he was in office. However perhaps he realises that the tide is turning and he needs to change his alliance!
Another very lovely Chinese family I know, run a restaurant and a betting shop and between the 10 brothers and sisters who nearly all have other jobs, they take turns to help their parents who are quite elderly now. I have just said hello to Mr Foo who is usually a Maths teacher but was in the middle of cooking and told me he was suffering from a hangover! His sister is head of a department in the Education Office but she pitches in too. I have very little school time this week as we have two days of public holiday and most of the schools have decided to take the other 3 days off. It was a very last minute decision with some schools deciding on Friday, however I have lots to be getting on with in preparation for the Symposium.  (More on that later.....) Meantime Andrew has arrived in Bangkok so we are at least in the same time zone now. We will be meeting up soon either in KL or Sabah - what a strange life we lead these days!

Music and microphones

Ranau Musik Studio

Music, microphones and singing are a part of Sabah and they definitely seem to have a musical gene in their genetic make-up. At first I was amazed to see preschool children handling microphones with ease and singing with confidence but now I just take it for granted. There are singing competitions in every school and two of my schools have had Malaysian champions. They love any excuse to sing - karaoke being the most popular and quite often people making their own recordings, which of course most of us wouldn't dream about, but here in Sabah it is part of life. Hence, I discovered that one of the teachers I work with is not only a preschool teacher but has a stage name of D' Jay and has released several albums with DVD's. So it is with David that I have embarked on trying to create a CD to play in the Preschool and Year 1, with the aim of helping teachers and exposing the younger children to more English. We tried to make contact with the Bamboo recording studio in Tambunan where the last CD was recorded, but with no luck, and then someone told us of a recording studio in the Ranau area - but where? Fortunately David made contact and off we went to the Ranau Music Studios which is about 5 kms. going up a very potholed road into the mountains. We eventually stopped at a very small concrete room with corrugated iron around and the owner and sound engineer were waiting for us. It wasn't like the last time as there were lots of us and the Bamboo Studio looks more like we imagine recording studios but despite the decor and taking quite a long time we have managed to record 20 songs and the sound engineer was very patient and nice to us.

                                                D'Jay and the sound engineer

  The last time we mentors paid for the recording and then sold the CD at cost price to the parents and schools in our area. Today, however I have received an email to say that if I put a proposal together, the British Council are prepared to pay for all the cost of producing the CD with the object of  giving every primary school in Sabah and Sarawak one! Now I'm really nervous that it isn't up to standard and all those little mistakes we made will be noticed. Should we go back again to record or what......?

The story continues next week....!

P.S. Some of you have wondered how the inspection went. Well they will know the result after a report in a month's time. They think it went ok but a young teacher was inspected and hadn't planned anything because he was too busy painting flags - now that is being very stupid! I will let you know as if they are awarded the "New Deal" it will mean 1000 ringitt per teacher which is a lot of money.