Thursday, March 18, 2010

COURSES TO ATTEND

1. KURSUS PENATARAN KOMPONEN SASTERA BAHASA INGGERIS TINGKATAN SATU DAN TINGKATAN EMPAT
DATE : 25-26 MARCH 2010
TIME : 8.00 - 4.30 PM
VENUE : PKG KAYANG

2. KURSUS PEDAGOGI GURU-GURU BAHASA INGGERIS SM & SR (MBMMBI)
DATE : 22-24 MARCH 2010
TIME : 8.00 - 4.30 PM
VENUE : INSTITUT PERGURUAN

A Fire

In the name of Allah, the most merciful and most gracious, I start today's journal entry by praising Allah s.w.t for His mercy bestowed on me and my family. Two days ago , I had a life-threatening experience... you can say that because our neighbour's house, which was a few metres away caught fire.. It was so frightening to see the roof of the house on fire. You couldn't imagine how I felt at that time, I was thinking.. "Is it happening to me?".
I was in my room, browsing the internet, when it happened. At first, I thought that someone was burning the rubbish in their compound. Then I thought to myself that they shouldn't be doing this since it was windy that afternoon and it was real hot. When the air was filled with smoke, I went to the window and peeped outside. I could see fire coming out of the window of my neighbour's house. Then I started searching for my phone and tried to call the fire brigade. I couldn't remember the number. Luckily my 9 year old son told me , it was 994. When i called the number, the man who answered it said that it was Penang's number and I had to call Perlis's number. What....??. I couldn't remember the number given by him so I had to call again to ask for the number.. Finally , I was able to memorize it and gave the centre a call. The man at the other end said that they had sent somebody there.
Well , to make the story short... the fire damaged the house and the adjoining house..it was a semi detached house. We were very lucky because the fire didn't touch our house.
I am really grateful that nothing bad happen to us.. God is gracious.. Thank You Allah....

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

WHAT MAKES FOR A BETTER LIFE?

What makes for a better life?
STUDENTS... TAKE NOTE OF THIS ... YOU COULD WIN RM100,000 worth of scholarships at Pizza Hut and The Star’s annual NiE contest

Sunday March 14, 2010 EDITED ARTICLE FROM THE STAR - Towards a better life
By SHARON OVINIS and ALYCIA LIM educate@thestar.com.my

At a time when the five C’s (Cars, Credit Cards, Condominium, Cash and Career) are priority to Generation Y, it’s refreshing to hear how four 14-year-olds concocted the five F’s for a better life.

A FEW STUDENTS FROM SMK Damansara Utama vouched that “Family, Food, Fun, Friends and Freedom” were sure tickets to quality living.

“What makes for a better life are face-to-face interactions. Social websites or gaming consoles are merely distractions,” said Syahana, while teammates Vanessa and Ainaa nodded in agreement — wise words indeed, from youngsters who have never known life without the Internet, mobile phones or social networking sites.

Vanessa added: “We should be grateful because we have everything that we need, and I feel it is time we do something to help those who do not even have basic necessities.”

A better life - Such enthusiasm to inspire change marked the start of The Star-Pizza Hut’s annual Newspaper-in-Education (NiE) contest which was launched last Tuesday in the Pizza Hut restaurant outlet in Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya.

The contest concept, which requires students to produce a three-page mini magazine, is running for the second year. Last year’s theme “Teenage angst” saw 74,000 students submit entries to win Pizza Hut vouchers.

This year’s contest, jointly sponsored by The Star and Pizza Hut, in cooperation with the Education Ministry, centres on the theme “A better life”.

Students, in teams of four or five, design a three-page mini magazine on an issue that changes their lives for the better. Topics could centre on health, safety, racial integration and environment, among others. Each team will have to conduct research on a selected topic, interview peers and write a feature article.
Students are also encouraged to to be more creative in their presentation by using a myriad of writing forms such as poetry, anecdotes, statistics, or comic strips for a more exciting presentation.

This year’s theme allows plenty of room for creativity. As student N. Nagulan, 12, of SJKT Rri Sungai Buloh puts it: “A better life for me is having a car that can be transformed into a radio.

CONCEPT OF A BETTER LIFE
“Not only will I then have a radio to listen to, the car folds neatly into my pocket as well. Parking will no longer be a problem!”

Teams will shoot a three-minute clip based on their perception of what makes a better life for them. While the team with the best video presentation will receive iPods, participation in the category is optional. Qualification for the merit and the grand prize awards depends solely on the mini magazine category.

Great prizes
While the students came with noble ideas, it was undeniable that a major motivation factor for participating in the competition were the attractive prizes offered.
- trip to Cambodia made the competition all the more enticing.
-iPods offered for the video-clip category
- competition makes learning English a lot of fun because we get to carry out activities we don’t normally do in class.


QSR Brands Bhd managing director Jamaludin Md Ali said: ”I feel that the theme this year is a good platform for students to express their creativity, as it gives them a wider scope to delve into. “Students can produce their magazine about almost anything, from issues about economics to their personal life.” He added that competitions like Mag Inc also made learning English more interesting.

Online registration for schools will open on April 1, and contest templates will be available on April 7 (with reprints on April 28). The contest is limited to schools and is open to primary (Years Four to Six), Lower Secondary and Upper Secondary teams.



BELOW IS THE COMPLETE ARTICLE FROM THE STAR ONLINE DATED 14 MARCH 2010

Sunday March 14, 2010
Towards a better life

What makes for a better life? Your ideas could just win RM100,000 worth of scholarships at Pizza Hut and The Star’s annual NiE contest.

By SHARON OVINIS and ALYCIA LIM


educate@thestar.com.my

At a time when the five C’s (Cars, Credit Cards, Condominium, Cash and Career) are priority to Generation Y, it’s refreshing to hear how four 14-year-olds concocted the five F’s for a better life.

Syahana Azhari, Vanessa Chip Shiao Ven, Ainaa Aiman Mohd Mashrique, and Aaron Luke of SMK Damansara Utama vouched that “Family, Food, Fun, Friends and Freedom” were sure tickets to quality living.
Excited: Pupils celebrate with mock-ups of their magazines and pizzas.

“What makes for a better life are face-to-face interactions. Social websites or gaming consoles are merely distractions,” said Syahana, while teammates Vanessa and Ainaa nodded in agreement — wise words indeed, from youngsters who have never known life without the Internet, mobile phones or social networking sites.

Vanessa added: “We should be grateful because we have everything that we need, and I feel it is time we do something to help those who do not even have basic necessities.”

A better life

Such enthusiasm to inspire change marked the start of The Star-Pizza Hut’s annual Newspaper-in-Education (NiE) contest which was launched last Tuesday in the Pizza Hut restaurant outlet in Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya.

The contest concept, which requires students to produce a three-page mini magazine, is running for the second year. Last year’s theme “Teenage angst” saw 74,000 students submit entries to win Pizza Hut vouchers.

This year’s contest, jointly sponsored by The Star and Pizza Hut, in cooperation with the Education Ministry, centres on the theme “A better life”.
Pizzalicious: Students of SMK Bandar Baru Petaling and SK Sri Hartamas enjoying their pizzas.

Students, in teams of four or five, design a three-page mini magazine on an issue that changes their lives for the better.

Topics could centre on health, safety, racial integration and environment, among others.

Each team will have to conduct research on a selected topic, interview peers and write a feature article.

Students are also encouraged to to be more creative in their presentation by using a myriad of writing forms such as poetry, anecdotes, statistics, or comic strips for a more exciting presentation.

This year’s theme allows plenty of room for creativity. As student N. Nagulan, 12, of SJKT Rri Sungai Buloh puts it: “A better life for me is having a car that can be transformed into a radio.
Yeoh (second from left), Jamaludin, Wong and Ee Hong listening to students of SMK Damansara Utama as they explain their concept of “A better life”.

“Not only will I then have a radio to listen to, the car folds neatly into my pocket as well. Parking will no longer be a problem!”

After an encouraging submission of 800 entries for the video clip category last year, this part of the contest has been retained for students who want to try their skills at this genre.

Teams will shoot a three-minute clip based on their perception of what makes a better life for them. While the team with the best video presentation will receive iPods, participation in the category is optional.

Qualification for the merit and the grand prize awards depends solely on the mini magazine category.

Great prizes

While the students came with noble ideas, it was undeniable that a major motivation factor for participating in the competition were the attractive prizes offered.

Sathappan Somasundaram, 12, from SK Sri Hartamas, said that a trip to Cambodia made the competition all the more enticing.

“I really hope to win a trip to Siem Reap so I can see the Angkor Wat, which is one of the wonders of the world,” he said, adding that he would like to learn about the history and culture of Cambodia.

His classmate, Puteri Alisa Alishsal said that the iPods offered for the video-clip category was a good incentive for students to participate in that additional category.

“I also think the competition makes learning English a lot of fun because we get to carry out activities we don’t normally do in class.

“Not only are we learning something new, but are in the running for exciting prizes too!”

New ideas, anyone?

For the second consecutive year, Taylor’s University College is sponsoring the awesome grand prize of pre-university scholarships totalling RM100,000.

Five lucky students can choose to enrol in any one of the following programmes — South Australian Matriculation (SAM), International Canadian Pre-University (ICPU) or Cambridge A-Levels (CAL) — offered by Taylor’s Pre-U studies.

Taylor’s Institutional Marketing vice-president Loy Teik Inn said that it had always been a practice for Taylor’s University College to give scholarships as a means of recognising achievements.

“A competition like this requires a different set of skills.

“Winning a contest like Mag Inc is an accomplishment of a different kind.”

He added that when a scholarship was offered as one of the prizes, it would usually heighten the level of competition among students.

Taylor’s School of Communications dean Josephine Tan is optimistic that the contest would receive an even better response this year.

“The contest theme is an avenue for students to showcase their creativity.

“Since it focuses on aspects that can improve their lives through even the simplest of changes, students would find ample room for expressing their ideas.

“These young minds have many interesting and innovative ideas which we may not have even thought about,” added Tan.

Gracious support

Present to officially launch Mag Inc 2010 was Education Ministry sports director Ee Hong.

In her speech, Ee thanked corporate companies like The Star and Pizza Hut who generously lent their expertise to nation-building efforts.

“Formulate your thoughts and express your observations in ways that can help make this country better as we work towards values and morals that are relevant to our social order and, ultimately, One Malaysia,” she advised students.

QSR Brands Bhd managing director Jamaludin Md Ali said: ”I feel that the theme this year is a good platform for students to express their creativity, as it gives them a wider scope to delve into.

“Students can produce their magazine about almost anything, from issues about economics to their personal life.”

He added that competitions like Mag Inc also made learning English more interesting.

“It is a good avenue for students to brush up on their English language skills.

“It makes the learning process a fun and interactive one.”

Jamaludin said that he was appreciative of the strong support shown by the Education Ministry over the past years.

“I am very grateful for the interest generated by the ministry.

“What we are doing I believe, is just a small contribution to the bigger picture.”

He added that he looked forward to the finals in September, where six shortlisted teams will present their mini magazines to a panel of judges.

Pizza Hut will be spending more than RM1.4mil on Star-NiE pullouts, workshops, incentives and prizes for the contest this year.

Also present at the contest launch was The Star’s managing editor David Yeoh and QSR Brands Bhd (KFC/Pizza Hut Division) director Wong Sooi Kheong.

The Mag Inc 2010 contest workshops are currently running throughout Peninsular Malaysia.

Online registration for schools will open on April 1, and contest templates will be available on April 7 (with reprints on April 28).

The contest is limited to schools and is open to primary (Years Four to Six), Lower Secondary and Upper Secondary teams.

HK SPB 2010 - zon utara


The HK started from Thursday 11.3.2010 to Sunday 14.3.2010. The judges had to judge at least 5 debate competitions. Students competed 5 times. It was quite an interesting experience for me... to judge or watch them compete.. The students were very courageous and had put in a lot of effort in the competition.. It was a really tough competition. It could just be luck (getting a better position than the opponent - the topic was on their side) or because they could think of logical arguments..... Among the topics were :

1) THBT nuclear power is the solution to global warming

2) This house would ban the use of animals in sports

3) This house believes that the media should be blamed for the increase of child abuse cases

4) THBT social networking websites improve our social life

5) This house would ban the use of credit cards.

6) This house would support quotas for women in government positions

7) THBT learning of traditional dance should be compulsory in school

The students (all the participating students in the HK SBP) were quite good in that they were able to come up with definition and arguments that the opposing team could not refute.

Congratulations to them esp SMSTSP debaters...