Second birthday

Our little Ainaa has reached 2 last August. We had a small celebration at her grandma's house together with her cousins, just the night before Eid. So this is an outdated post.. huh.

How fast time flies. Only a little baby before and now is a toddler - an insisting and persistent 2 years old. Just like her brothers at this age 2-4 year, you'll have to be very patient to wait the phase passed - they want people to follow her and not otherwise. 

She could walk before her first birthday. She could talk clearly at early second year of her life. Many would ask how old is she when listening to her talking.

With 2 brothers, she would choose cars and lorries for toys rather than a doll. She understands simple disciplne - like throwing rubbish in the bin and not anywhere. She could be depended on to put away her toys. But that depends on her mood too.

She, I notice, know how to make people adoring her. You will laugh just hearing her laughing. If the daddy ask, whose daughter is she, she would say, "anak bapak!" (daddy's daughter) with childish high tone, and change the answer if I asked the question. She said: "anak emak!" (mommy's daugther).  

The Beautiful 'Eid

We celebrated Eid ul Fitri on 30 August 2011. Eid ul Fitri is a festival for all Muslims celebrated on the 1st Syawal ie which marks the end of Ramadhan - the month in which all Muslims are required to fast. This is also regarded as the day of victory for the ability to fulfill the obligation of fasting, the health and strength  to face challenges and other good deeds recommended to be done during the holy month of Ramadhan. In short it is a big day for all Muslims. It has been a tradition to gather with families and to visit relatives and friends during the day and for the whole month too.   

Indeed it was beautiful eid for us. There are so many reasons for this. First, we went back to our hometown to celebrate the eid with our family of my side after two eid without the company of them. We will be going back to visit our family in Kedah a week after which is also to attend the wedding of my sister-in-law. 

Second, all of my siblings gathered in my mom's house during the eid which I think the first time that we were able to get together after many years. The great children of my parents now reach the number of 10 making the small house was just like a shipwreck..

And last which is the landmark for the memory of this year's eid is the gathering of all members of a big family of our great great grandfather, Hj Mat Said Hj Dollah - the first time occasion in the history of our family. The move towards the organisation of the gathering started with a conversation in a page in the Facebook which led then to this joyful event. We were blessed with the crowd that turned out in the house of Ecik Atan and Makcik Kama, a relative, in Kampung Luit, from the oldest that live at present, Tokki Mat Arif to the youngest great great grandchildren. Almost all members in family were present except  a few in this wonderful occasion. Many hope that this gathering could be held again in future and become bi- or annual event for the family.

Eid Mubarak to all. 

Suria KLCC Park

Another photo page in a series of photo posting today... a lazy day after two days of long journey to Kuantan and Muadzam Syah in the past two days for meeting with the research respondents. 

Last Sunday we went to KLCC wading pool. It was fun especially for the kids. The two brothers were really enjoying the day whilst Ainaa seemed to be fear for her safety in the kids water park. Throughout the afternoon,  she remained in our cuddle, refused to go into the water.

    

Happy birthday our dear Atuk

Happy fathers' day

To all fathers with love

Happy birthday Mak

Makteh is engaged

Congratulation our dear Makteh.

Will be someone else's significant other soon.

Wish you the best in life.

Istana Kehakiman

Istana Kehakiman aka Palace of Justice

Putrajaya

Happy birthday Fahim

Happy birthday to Fahim.

From your cousins, Farhan, Ammar and Ainaa.

Mini Maha 2011

Mini MAHA 2011, held at Indera Mahkota, Kuantan Pahang.

Clearing the airway

Because of sound of wheezing heard from her chest, and she looked stressful breathing, we brought her to a clinic to get her chest cleared. This was the first time she used it. The doctor suspected the prolonged haze was the main contributor. For Ainaa, she was calm whilst having it administered for about 15 minutes. But Mr Daddy would have to sing for her all along. 

The dying dinos in a sad playground

We went to a playground bringing the children to play at a playground in Nilai 3. It is only about 5 minutes drive from our house. The sight of replicated dinosaurs and a big playground from far when driving through the famous shopping destination one day, brought us there that afternoon. It was just for the kids to have fun.

But coming close, this is the real look of the kids destination. And this is the fate of the dinos ..

The slide has broken. The rubber mat on the ground has deteriorated. There was also a long rope tying from a pillar and lying down on the ground. It is dangerous for the children who may stumble upon the rope. There was also irresponsible burning of rubbish near the playground with wind heading to its direction.

No ironing

The electricity tariff is raised again. In the country, the rate is regulated by the authority rather than the service provider. As usual, the trend is the media would be busy giving advice to the consumer on how to reduce electricity usage. It's good in the sense that the consumer should be aware of the cost that electricity would take against the environment. Everyone should do his or her part somehow.

Apart from the role of consumer as individual, we think, a lot more could be done by the authorities who are decision makers in many sectors which have far bigger impact to the society and the use of the resources.

One of the things that I really hope to be done is the change of school uniform for the children especially in the primary school. The school uniform in use currently is in white and use material that need to be ironed every time.  

If school uniform could be changed to t-shirt and track suit in dark colours, a lot of electricity usage could be saved, a lot of energy and time could be spared for other things. Mothers - many think that ironing is the most dreadful chore to do - could have more rest. Money could be spent for other needs which prices are on the rise too. 

T-shirt I think is better to suit the lifestyle of the children. They would be free to run around without the need to take care of the 'whiteness' of their clothes. It is better for the hot climate in the country. It is cheaper in cost, lasts longer and easier to wash as it could be washed together with other clothes. The most important thing is it is practical.

The gorgeous

Just like these photos very much .. 

specially designed by Maksu for her princess nieces... 

Thanx maksu.

Comparing prices

In the news yesterday, it was reported that about 52% of the population in the country have income less than RM3,000. I am not sure how many are in the majority portion.

When we came back since last month, we really feel that the price of many consumer basic items especially foods have increased dramatically. They include rice, sugar, flour, fishes and meat, milk and baby items - those every day consumptions. Even small fishes like kembong and selar kuning could be more than RM10.00 per kg. In looking for a rented house, we could also feel that the house rental is also on the rise. We also brought Ammar for dental check and to our surprise it costs us RM200.00 for checking, cleaning and filling. That is the amount covered a year by our employer for a staff.    

For us, this trend is worrying. With the price such as that even RM3,000 would not be sufficient to cover basic expenses. That is the amount of salary generally for fresh graduates in the country, depending on the sector. 

Comparing apple to apple, we feel that grocery items are cheaper in Melbourne than the home country. Let say, we have AUD$3000 in Melbourne, the amount would be sufficient to cover comfortable lifestyle. We could get good rice as cheap as $1.60 per kg, fresh milk at $1.00 per litre, sugar and flour at $1.00 per bread at $1.09 (the supermarket brand only), Ainaa's formula milk $22.00 per tin of 1 kg, diaper $15.00 for about 60 pieces (supermarket brand). 

Comparing the price to Malaysia: RM2.60 for medium quality of rice, RM5.00 per litre of a supermarket brand of fresh milk, sugar RM2.00, flour RM2.00 per kg, RM20.00 of 1 kg formula milk, RM26.00 for diaper (supermarket brand). 

But, in contrast to us in Malaysia, medical and other services like car repairing and child care are expensive in Melbourne, but some subsidies are given to citizens.

Cooked foods, depending on status of the provider, might be more expensive in Melbourne compared to Kuala Lumpur. But pizza is cheaper in Melbourne - $8.00 for family size with abundant toppings compared to the popular pizza in Malaysia - RM23.00 for family size with not as much toppings. In Malaysia cooked foods are easily found sold by small hawkers and in night market. There is no such outlet in Melbourne.   

We also found a fact which makes us wonder: The items that are imported from Malaysia selling in Melbourne would cost us the same price as in Malaysia, but the items imported from outside, let say Australia, selling in Malaysia would cost us the same value. 

We give an instance: the price for kipas udang ketchup in Malaysia is RM4.50 last year (but now RM5.50). In Melbourne the price is AUD$4.50. When we arrived back in Melbourne next couple of month I believe it would be AUD$5.50. But the price for spaghetti in Melbourne, a good quality is about RM2.50 per packet of 500gm but supermarket brand is only $1.00. We also could get the instant sauce for $3.00 per bottle. But in Malaysia the price of spagetthi is RM4.50 the same brand, and the instant sauce is almost RM10.00.

Clothings I think are of same price between the two locations, but since the second hand good quality clothings are abundant in Melbourne, we could get more.  

  

Whilst Melbourne record the most expensive housing rental in the world, we in Malaysia have the most expensive car in the world. Melburnians afford to pay cash for their first car as luxurious as Camry, but it is unlikely for us who may only afford to buy a small car 850 cc with the same amount of money.     

Search for a place

We found that it is not easy to find a good child care for Ainaa. After 8 days sending Ainaa to a child care center near our house here, we decided that that center does not suit Ainaa. Or put it another way Ainaa is simply resistant to that place. Every morning she refused to go there. She cried and clinged to me when she realised that we were about to send her. She looked stressful too. At night she didn't sleep well. She suffered from colic even. We thought things would get better, she would adjust herself and will like the place eventually. 

But on the 8th day, I listened to my instinct. After an appointment in UPM, about 60 km from home, we went straight to the center and picked her up. That day we went to another center recommended by a friend. 

When we arrived at 12.45pm, all kids were asleep. It is the nap afternoon time after lunch, informed by the principal. She agreed for us to give Ainaa a trial for several days to see whether she will like the place. The principal said it is normal for babies and toddler to cry in the beginning. Some of them even show resistance up to three weeks, she said. That statement actually make us more worried. How could we concentrate with our work then. But the monthly fees is quite cheap - RM160.00.    

So the day after, we went to the center. We arrived at 8.44 am. It was quiet. There were two rooms for the kids. The kids of 3 and above were in a room watching tv. Another group, the toddlers of Ainaa's age, were asleep in another room. When I saw through a window, there were two carers. About 10 toddlers were sleeping. But some of them just lied on their back but not asleep - their eyes opened.  One carer I noticed in an angry manner, I thought, asked a boy to sleep. Then she patted the boy at his back. She didn't notice my presence. The two carers each were then patting two kids to sleep by both hands. I brought Ainaa into the room seeing if she liked the place.

But deep in my heart I felt difficult to agree with that. The day before when we arrived at 12.45 pm, the toddlers were sleeping. Early in the morning that day, it was also sleeping time for them. Surely it is a big no for Ainaa. So we canceled our intention. Since I had an appointment at IIUM, Gombak, off we went there with Ainaa. I was 30 minutes late for the meeting.  The intention to go to the IIUM library after that had to be cancelled.

What should be done was to look for her care center again. The question we added that needs to be asked now is how many are the sleeping times for the kids.  

We went to two centers around our house that afternoon. One looked good with three middle age carers. The fee is RM280. We went to another. There were two carers - looked very young either early 20th or 18-19 years old. The principal was in maternity confinement, they told us. The fee is RM260.

We chose the one with the middle aged carers. It has been 4 days we sent Ainaa to the center. Allah's willing, she seems to like the place. Hopefully, it is a good place for her that she will be happy to spend her day.

    

Escape from winter

We arrived at our lovely home country last 2 weeks for our next phase of the research project. It was a very long journey of 8 hours day flight without the kids sleeping even a second. It must be a mistake choosing a day flight with the kids.  

When we arrived at 3pm, it felt so hot. We felt like the home country is hotter than before. The kids were the ones suffered more especially the baby who suffered from cold and diarrhea for days. I think, it must be because of the different climate. They are now adjusting well. Luckily, the house that we live in has air-conditioner to keep us cool. 

We started with silaturrahim visits to Kedah and Pahang in the weekend. We also had an occasion  to see our friends in the faculty for our paper presentations in a discourse held by the faculty last week. Seeing the families and friends make things feel better.

We also bumped into some students from the classes that we taught before. Many of them are in the final year now having final examination. All the best for the examination. One is about to get married right after the examination. Congratulation. One student, Aqeeda, said she read this blog and finds inspiration in it. Hopefully it does leave a trail of inspiration to us too.  

The kids also had started their school in a kindergarten near the house that we rent for these few months. They seem to enjoy the school which has various activities including swimming and sport. The only thing they lamented almost every day is they have to take short nap for 30 minutes every day after coming back from school in the afternoon care. 

The baby is still adjusting too. She is still crying in the morning when we send her to her carer. She dislikes strangers very much. In the grandparents homes, she clings to us so much that cause me back pain for having to carry her a lot.   

As to the house that we live in currently, it is so lovely. It has a fish pond in front and a playground at the back. The kids take the task of taking care of the fishes. They feed the fishes every morning and afternoon. They also do not forget to say hello and goodbye to the fishes every time they go to and come back from school. "Hello little fishes" ... "Good bye little fishes", say Ammar every time. 

Nilai has also changed. It has now its own landmark called Dataran Nilai with a park and a big commemorative clock. It also has a giant supermarket called Tesco apart from Giant that was there before. But the outlook of Giant has also changed with new shops surrounding the area. We also feel that the small town before has been livelier.

The cold

It's 4.28am. 4.4 degree Celsius. God's willing, at last the writing commitment that I undertook to complete before has finished. In fact in struggle actually - struggle with tissues and sneezing all the time. I am struck with a very bad cold since last two days. I think it must be because of the change in temperature. And almost felt like regret that I did take the writing commitment at this time - at the preparation for a long travel for our data collection. 

Always I found, my immunity is low when I have many works. The body forced me to rest whilst the brain could not stop. So I must be under pressure now. Luckily the kids and dad are fine. Since last few weeks, partly due to the uncertain weather, and the temperature is getting lower every day, and partly for the preparation of the long travel, we started to prepare the kids with extra supplement to avoid them from cold or flu. But in the end, it's the mommy who have it, and might infect the rest. And there are still a lot to pack! But the computer must be disinfected first.

Subjective vs objective

Farhan is practising times table since last week. The teacher gave him a set of goals to accomplish and sent note to parent informing the goal for the kids that particular week. They encourage the cooperation of parents to help the kid to achieve the goal. During meals even he asks us to question his times table. Last week, his goal was 2 times table. And once the previous was achieved, this week's goal was 3 times table. For a grade 1, I think, he was quite fast in understanding how the tables actually work. He said, the first thing in the morning he is to do at school is to work on achieving his goal. 

It is interesting that kid of grade 1 talks about achieving 'my goal'. Every kid has his/her own distinctive goal. They can move forward according to his own capability. The kids learn by setting goal and move towards achieving it. 

We view this as a sheer difference compared to the education system in the home country. Here, we see, students are assessed subjectively rather than objectively. I mean in our system, the ability and achievement of students is assigned by number and comparison against the other members of the class. But here, the report cards given to parents at the end of each term contain no such numbers. Rather it contains what the students have learnt and what they have achieved. For example, he has been able to read certain level of books but he needs to improve on aspects of pronunciation (eg), he knows to count up to 100 and backward, he is able to understand basic math plus and minus, he is able to write his own story, interact well with other members of the class etc.

There is no written examination at this stage. The focus is the basic communication, language, numeracy and every day skills. It also stresses to instil confidence with one's own capability.

There is no homework except reading a story book of his level of reading capability supplied by the teacher every day.

On the other hand, the way our education system is presented, insofar that we see, students are expected to follow the system rather than the system  checking the need of students and adjust accordingly. With the bulk of subjects to be undertaken in the early years and big number of pupils in one class, some may be left out in the fast felt moving of the system. I have heard a teacher lamented about one whole class of pupils in year 6 of his school are not able to read properly.   

Prior to coming here, Farhan has been seated for written examinations for his 4 and 5 year old kinders. They were for Malay and English as well as Math. Despite the fact that he was unable to read and count at that time, he took the examination. Once he got  number 2 in the class, another number 9. I forgot the numbers for the other earlier occasions. Almost all members of the class got almost 100. So the difference was a matter of a very few points. I found later what happened was that the examination questions given were practiced before and the kids, who undoubtedly have marvelous memory,  simply put the answer in their memory without understanding the things. I also found that the kids were confused with the alphabets. Both languages, English and Malay, use same alphabets but different sounds. But the kinder use phonetic system for English and  the traditional approach for Malay. At the end of the day for the two years, Farhan even couldn't tell how  actually A sounds.

Till we meet again

Kak Nab's family was to depart from K Intan and Ust Khairul's house. So we met there to bid farewell. Indeed we will miss them. Farhan and Ammar will miss their good friends. We will miss persons who were very helpful. When we arrived here, on one occassion, Ust Khairul described that abg Rasul as a person who helped so many people. Indeed he was. To many and to us too. 

“May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.”