Welcome to Sekolah Kebangsaan

Our elder daughter started her primary school today at a nearby public school. We were hoping for a memorable day. A day where the new Year 1 students would feel welcomed and the parents were assured that this was the school for their children. Was that so much to ask? Apparently, it was. The school was a bit disorganized, to put it lightly. There was nobody from the school to greet us when we reached school just after 7am. Nobody to tell us where to go and what to do with our kid. The school day was supposed to start at about 7:30am.

The parents and their kids ended up gathering around the school courtyard and, as our number grew, blocking the movement of some students, presumably, from Year 2 and above who seemed to know what to do as they lined up neatly in a number of rows in the courtyard. Finally, at about 7:30am, we were told to line our kids behind any of the existing rows of students. The school assembly would then start. The welcoming speeches were, well, not particularly welcoming but I don’t think the students paid much attention to them.

My wife and I were flabbergasted to see the haphazard organization of the school. This was the 1st day of school for crying out loud! A school is more than just for delivering lessons to kids. It is also about building a community. The poor management of the first day of school reflects badly not only on the the school staff but also the coordination among them, the existing students and their parents. Through the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), parents, teachers and students could have worked together to make the day unforgettable.

Are we are complaining too much? Perhaps. Let see how we as new parents in the PTA would deal with the first day of school next year. Actually, my kid was quite happy with the school. After all, she has got one of her best friends from preschool in the class. Maybe, kids deal with it better than us, parents. Maybe, we need to lighten up?

Displaying Your Own Kids’ Paintings

According to The Star today, the work of Australia's acclaimed photographer Geoff Letchford is on display here in Malaysia in Bangsar until July 9. He will also be here in person if you want him to put the photos of yourself and/or your love ones on interesting medium like canvas, albums, cushions, calendars, 3×3 panels, curtains, etc.

Of course it is extremely satisfying to have your pictures on all conceivable items in the house. But if you are short on cash or, for some reason, do not like to see you face on the walls or on the cushions day in, day out, I have a suggestion. Your kids love to paint, right? Now, instead of putting their paintings in the kitchen on the overworked refrigerator, why don't you get some frames from IKEA, frame the pictures and hang them in the living room? Besides, your guests are less critical of an art piece if it is done by children. Especially if they are your children.

Sometimes my 6-year old daughter would suddenly have the urge to paint during the weekends. The younger 3-year old would not want to be left out. She wants to paint too. Some of the better results from her work can be seen on the left. She is very free with her brush. And with colors too. I have to make sure she won't mix all of the colors together and end up with a rather gloomy mess. I could not make out any sane resemblance from the top painting in the frame (maybe someone fencing?). But I could vaguely see two people dancing from the middle and some sort of flowers from the bottom one.

On the right you can see three watercolor paintings by my 6-year old. Everything is exaggerated, of course. From a flower bigger than a house to a bee bigger than a flower. But I like the exaggerated pink fish best. It reminds me of one big flat pale graceful marine fish I saw on National Geographic (or was it the Animal Planet?) the name of which I have forgotten. Man, it is so hard to search the Net for a fish name by its shape and color.

Even a spaghetti-looking colourful random lines could look interesting (left). This doodle is also done by my 6-year old using magic pens. Another one she did with magic pens and some template is something I aptly title "Mother fish, three small fry and an alga" (left). I am imitating Paul Martin Lester's "Two guys, a tree, and a bicycle" here.

So there you have it. There are many ways to fill our boring walls. And it does not have to cost much. Kids are prolific when it comes to doodling. Pick the best ones and display them with pride!

Happy Father’s Day

Kids nowadays are taught to say they love their parents without too much thinking about it. It is almost a second nature to them. My elder daughter surprised me with a nice Happy Father's Day card she created at her preschool with some help from her teachers. And, of course, she did not fail to mention she loved her father.

Contrast what my daughter has done to how much courage I had to muster to call my father this morning to say I loved him. It was almost pathetic. I was stumbling with my words even though I had rehearsed what I wanted to say a few times in my mind beforehand. He did not even know that today was Father's Day. I managed to ask him whether he needed anything from me or the rest of his children. He simply said no, nothing in particular. Asked if he was satisfied with all of us, he said yes without hesitation. He is a man of few words. But I love him dearly. The whole call lasted for less than 5 minutes.

Happy Father's Day, Abah.

Lucy and Danae: Something Silly This Way Comes

Finally I found this book. MPH at Mid Valley Megamall had two copies and I grabbed one of them. So, quick! Rush there if you want to get a hold of the other one. Two weeks ago I went to Kinokuniya KLCC to see if it had it but I had to come back empty handed.

I love this book. I think my 6-year-old daughter would love it too — if not for the satire, for the nice rendition of these two lovable characters. The book is a kind of "Lucy and Danae: The Beginning." It explains how Lucy, the horse, ends up as Danae's pet companion. And not without some help from her little sister, Kate. While the two girls are diametrically opposed, you would love Kate just the same (see below).
Unfortunately, the Church of Danae has not yet been founded in this book. I guess I have to wait for the sequel.

Calvin and Hobbes Versus Lucy and Danae

My wife and I have a stack of Calvin and Hobbes compilation books we have collected some time back which went underutilized until recently. Suddenly, my 6-year old daughter has developed an interest in Calvin and Hobbes and she has been reading them regularly ever since. Her dream, she has shared with us, is to transmogrify somehow into Lucy so that she could teach Calvin how to properly treat a girl, I guess.

But recently, I found Lucy and Danae from the Non Sequitur comic strip when I included it in my personalized Google homepage. I had never really paid attention to Non Sequitur before this. I could not help but notice certain similarities between Calvin and Hobbes and Lucy and Danae. The only thing is Danae is girl and her imaginary friend is some kind of a horse. Not to mention that Danae is more clever than Calvin. I think I will introduce Lucy and Danae to my daughter and I am sure she will be elated. She may have a hard time understanding the dark humour but she will be able to relate better with Danae.

 

Pingat Hang Tuah

Today I saw the New Straits Times featured the nominees of the Pingat Hang Tuah on its front page. Pingat Hang Tuah is an accolade bestowed upon a kid that has displayed an act of sheer bravery. Hang Tuah features prominently in the Malay legend as the most unselfish warrior of Malacca of the past — too unselfish for my taste, in fact, but that would be a different story. I did not realize that Pingat Hang Tuah has only now been revived after it was cancelled for some 20 odd years. No wonder the last time I could recall hearing about this Pingat was during my childhood days. While Hang Tuah was my hero then, I did not harbour the desire of ever getting it, let alone becoming one of the nominees, because I was not really a brave kid.

I think it is about time the kids of our time being taken seriously. However, if you were to read what these 8 kids have done to be nominated, you could not help but notice that all of their stories involved kids and water. Invariably, they involved a kid trying to save their friends or siblings from drowning. In fact, three of the nominees drowned trying to save someone. I have no problem saluting these kids for their bravery. But as a parent of two lovely kids, I could not help but think that we have not done enough to teach our kids the danger of water and, more importantly in my view, the need for self-preservation. What is worse, I, as a parent, do not even know how to swim. I was the product of the same culture like these kids and, in this respect, we have not improved much after all this time.
Another question that I have in my mind is whether I would want my children to become heroes when the situation demands it. I would prefer self-preservation because being heroes is risky business. But then, would I want a hero to be around when my kid’s life is in danger? I think everybody knows the answer to that question.

Later today, I learned that the Pingat went to Muhammad Firdaus Haris from Gombak who saved a 4 year old unknown to him who had slipped from the kiddy pool into the adult pool. I believe he really deserved it for that unselfish act. But the rest of the nominated kids are no less a hero in my eyes.