The World of Tai Tai

I finished my reading of Anne Bronte's The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall yesterday at 9 p.m. It is an extraordinary story about how a woman  named Helen huntingdon leaves her abusive, alcoholic husband in search of an independent life of her own. Her action flouts convention, and makes the people around her cast aspersion on her. However, she is brave to stand up against all the trials with dignity. her character defies the Victorian stereotypes of women. She is bold and vociferous in expressing her views. She decides her own destiny and refuses to be her husband's subject of manipulation. When her husband is gravely ill, she returns to his house and looks after him till he passes away. This shows that she is magnanimous. No other female character of the Victorian era has such a virtue. The story ends on a positive note. Helen marries the man she loves and lives happily ever after.

Chinese New Year is around the corner but I haven't prepared anything. My garden is full of rank grass and my house is unswept. My windows are dusty and my freezer is an ice cave. In the past I would have cleaned up every thing two weeks prior to the occasion. I may have to trouble my sister again. Despite her nagginess, she is second to none when it comes to the job of cleaning. I used to be enthusiastic about baking cakes and biscuits. My forte was Indonesian Layered cake. I am simply too lazy to bake now. For one thing, I haven't bought an oven. For another, My Mum and sister have done a lot of baking. what's the use of troubling myself, right? I will ring up an Iban neighbor this evening. He cuts grass in his free time for many people in the neighborhood. I hope he will be able to come and cut grass in my house compound tomorrow morning.

I asked my students to write a composition last week. The title was 'What I do when I am sad and happy'. To write the composition, every student has to contribute a sentence by writing it on the blackboard. At first they were reluctant to do it, thinking it too difficult and personal to write. To make them feel at ease with the work, I told them to be creative with what they wrote. I gave some examples on the black board and they found them amusing. Being positively-inspired, they were raring to go. Many of them came up with amazing sentences. Some were simply outrageous. The blackboard was full of sentences after thirty minutes. I went through them one by one and did editing when necessary. To make the composition flow well, I elicited some sentence connectors from the students. At last, the composition was done and I asked every one to copy it into their exercise books. The writing activity was well- accomplished!

I bought an Apple iPad on a whim yesterday. It was quite expensive, costing me RM 2'699.00. I seldom splurge on such an luxury. God forgive me.

I was angry with my students in one writing lesson. When showing them how to write a composition on a famous personality, I realized that I had accidentally written something in an abbreviated form: she's famous for her elegant choreography . I rubbed 'she's' off and replaced it with 'she is'. Many students booed me, saying that I was not fit to be an English teacher. I became furious and animadverted them upon their vain insolent jesting.I said, "Have I ever condemned you for making an error? It is common for one to edit his or her script during a writing process." They fell quiet immediately. Only my voice rang in all corners of the classroom.

The following story is a repost. It was edited by Robert Raymer. The bus came to a groaning halt at the bus stop. Its electric-powered door swung open and I boarded it. After dropping some cash into the fare box beside the driver, I edged my way through a line of standing passengers towards the rear of the bus. I grinned to myself in relief when I spotted an unoccupied seat beside a red-shirted Iban man. Having ensconced myself in the seat, I decided to close my eyes for a short rest. Something smelly attacked my nostrils. Crinkling my nose in disgust, I looked sideways at my neighbor. He seemed to be captivated by the view of buildings that whirred past the window. The odour came directly from him. How many days had he not taken a shower? No wonder the seat had been left vacant! I suddenly found myself staring at the man eye-to-eye. My surprise turned to a shock when I realized that his face was mottled with bruises, scabs and open wounds. Before I could tear my eyes a...

Last year, I attended a benchmarking course for PMR English. The speakers, a Punjubi and a Tamil, pointed out common errors of students to all participants. "Now, turn to page 10, look at one error," said the Punjubi lady. We turned to page 10 as instructed. "Look at the sentence 'He chose to stay at home because of the lateness of the hour." I was scratching my head, not knowing why it was wrong. Then, the Punjubi lady said, " The major error is 'lateness'. The correct sentence should be 'He chose to stay at home because it was late." I raised my hand and said, "But I think the sentence is right. It is not wrong to use the word 'late' in the form of a noun." The Punjubi lady shook her head, saying: "No, there is no such word as 'lateness'." Gasping in incredulity, I said, "There is, as far as I can remember!" "Then your memory fails you," cut in the Tamil teacher. So...

I want to: 1) attend as many writing workshops as possible. 2) read as many books as possible to improve my English. 3) quit attending any workshops organized by the so-called 'Guru Cemerlang' group in Miri. Despite knowing little English, they pontificate about the language. 4) be a good son to my parents. 5) be a good sibling to my sister. 6) take up driving. 7) exercise more to lose weight. 8) return to church. 9) go to Beijing at the end of the year. 10) write stories about my parents' childhood. 11) write stories about my childhood. 12) be more level-headed in making decisions. 13) be a better teacher

Two people whom I know well have cancer. They are: 1. My Principal -- Nasal Cancer 2. My Third Auntie in Australia -- Breast Cancer May God give them courage.

In a calm, almost lukewarm manner, I said goodbye to Tan last Thursday afternoon. No handshake, no hugging and no exchange of emotive words. Tan had been my colleague for six years. It had never occurred to me that we would become close friends the first time we met each other. He was so straightforward and optimistic while I so silent and moody. He called me 'Big Brother' in our first meeting and I was embarrassed. He always wanted to hold me into a conversation but I tried my best to dodge him. I was a misanthropist who preferred to retire himself in a dark corner. However, I had to spend much of my time with him at school because both of us had been assigned to head the volleyball club. I soon found him personable, sincere and trustworthy. He let me know everything about himself and confided in me his problems. In our free time, he taught me how to play volleyball and swim. He even asked me to go out shopping with him and his Kayan wife. I witnessed many tiffs and coque...