Sunday, September 30, 2007

On Burma

* from Wikipedia

When I was in high school, I was so fascinated of stories about the golden pagodas in Burma, the early history of Burmese people and culture. Things about Burma never left my imagination as I went on through my simple life. Then I never heard about Burma anymore. I was even confused when a young relative who was taking History subject told me frankly years ago that there was no country named Burma in her book. She said it as if I was hallucinating and inventing something. What happened to the Burma I knew of?


When my daughter attended her poly studies at TP, she met two friends from Myanmar. When I accompanied her to pay for her tuition fees, I happened to see those two Myanmar young ladies. I then told my daughter that it was so unusual for two persons of same nationality who study in a foreign country not to talk to each other. My daughter explained that it was because the first young lady was the daughter of a general from Myanmar and the other one was the daughter of a newspaper publisher/journalist who was against the government.

So then and there I was able to piece up the pieces of confusion I had before. I then learnt that Myanmar is actually Burma. I even told my daughter that I like the name Burma than Myanmar.

So every time I hear about Aung San Suu Kyi, my daughter’s Myanmar’s friends whom she said the other one is now in NYC taking further studies, and about Myanmar, visions of those empire, small kingdoms, pagodas and even the place Mandalay come to my mind.

And now that there is chaos over there again, I feel sorry for those wonderful memories of that beautiful place ebbed in my young mind then.

If you are keen to know more about the recent happening there, do visit this site
http://ko-htike.blogspot.com/

Let us pray for the people of Burma.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Absolute Mistakes


My second daughter was watching the MTV Awards that time when she called me. I hurriedly went to the living room where she was. So I saw Britney Spears while dancing that unexpected boring number. Then I heard what that lady said “adorable mistakes”. My daughter was laughing out loud and I asked her “Who’s that lady?” “She got no right to say things like that! She’s not funny! She’s ugly, yes!” I added in length. My daughter explained to me that she is a well known stand up comedienne in the US. “And Mum, they are in the US. Why they even say more funny things about George Bush, who’s their president, how much more about Britney Spears?” my daughter added in support of the lady.

Okay, it was said in jest. But to make fun of things and people using children is not funny at all. It is ugly. It is cruel. It is unfeminine.

I remember years ago, when a well known blogger wrote a post making fun of a child. I commented that I was not amused when his joke is about making fun of children. He answered that his joke was not intended for children.
For heaven’s sake then write jokes about adults not about children especially when there’s sexual connotation on it.

And for this lady, do remember that every child will never ever be a mistake. Just think, maybe you are a mistake. But you are not an adorable mistake. Can I say you and your joke are absolute mistakes!!! Well, maybe I am wrong, maybe I am right. But one thing is for sure, I don’t find you funny…….but you really look funny . Ayyy, sorry , I don't mean to be mean naman......

Monday, September 24, 2007

TFC Shows


*from ABS-CBN interactive site




My youngest daughter informed me that her secondary friend Erwina subscribed to TFC to watch Jericho Rosales in Pangarap na Bituin. It could be so amusing to hear it considering that Erwina is a Malay girl (who is sort of obsessed with everything Filipino) and TFC has no subtitles. How could she understand the language?



But on second thought, we should be proud, right? Imagine, a foreigner is supporting TFC here. So, it is confirmed, TFC is being watched not only by Filipinos but also by locals. ( though I really don't know how many Erwinas are there.)



My daughter who is working in an MNC here has a few Filipino colleagues too who are high flyers. Whenever they have time to talk, they avoid politics, "masakit lang sa ulo..", they reason. And what do they enjoy talking? TFC programs of course.



Here at home, my family is really a TFC fanatic. Not only does it makes us closer to the Philippines, it also makes our family closer. Our dinner time everyday are more enjoyable whenever we talk about those shows or whenever my husband imitate some expressions we heard from the show. We really laugh out loud whenever he'll say that he is more handsome and can act better than that Marudo (Zanjoe Marudo).



So it is obvious, we are really watching Kokey. We really enjoy the show. We really feel we are children experiencing those light moments of simple happiness.



So if you want to know more about that Kokey, subscribe to TFC now. Don't feel you are baduy. There is no word baduy when you are overseas, believe me....

(I can only watch Boy&Kris whenever I am on MC or on leave because it is being shown only in the mornings. If only it will be aired in the evenings, my enjoyment will be more complete.)

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Tighter controls....

My daughter showed me this article from Digital Life of The Straits Times. This is an important information for those who are planning to travel to US. So I am posting the article here.

Tighter controls for travel to US

The United States is moving to tighten immigration and customs controls, which it says are vital to keep terrorists at bay six years after the Sept 11 attacks.

Foreign travellers will need to provide 10 digital fingerprints on arrival instead of two currently, and their personal data will be trransmitted to the US before their plane takes off. This will be implemented from November.

Ten US airportts will initially have the capability to collect the 10 prints before all ports of entry are covered by the plan by the end of next year.

All US embassies and other posts issuing visas to visitors will, by the end of this year, be able to collect the 10 prints for verification at the points of entry.-AFP

Sunday, September 16, 2007

My grandkids

Here are my three grandkids.
In a few more days we will be with them.
And that will be the best.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Getting fewer....

I visited the technorati site just last night. I found out that there are only a few blog sites that link to my site now. My reaction? The same as before when I found out that a few erased mine from their links. Of course I am affected. But what should I do? I also never did my part. Though I visited blog sites, I never ever dared to write any comments. I am aware that in order for me to be in their blogroll, I should visit and comment. That's the way it should be. Also, I neglected to update my links.

When I started blogging, I was very keen to visit and comment. Then all of a sudden, I stopped commenting. My buzzy bee friend made me a coward. Who then is she in my life? Crazy me...

Anyway, I also admit I got no time too. I was busy with my course. Now that I am free. I can visit sites again and make friends. I hope so.

And so what if I only have a few links. It was not my main goal to be visited. My main goal is to write about anything that interests me.

So I will still continue blogging, even though only a few visits my site.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Longer days...

Nowadays, I can feel so obviously that the days are getting longer and longer. I am always tempted to count the days and it made me weepy. My husband told me to concentrate on what I should do. But I am also getting nervous of the outcomes.
Ahh, I should think positive everytime. And I should be happy for even though the days may be getting longer, I know for a fact that my desire will be realized soon. That will be the best of everything.

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

My personal reflection on my research project

Reaction
I was amazed of the power of the printed words since young. As my parents surrounded my young life with lots of storybooks, I became so interested in reading stories which developed an adult reader in me. But in my young mind then, how I wished that my own mother read those stories for me. I was sure that there would be positive outcomes on me and a sense of unexplained joy I would felt if only my own mother did oral storytelling with me. That is why; I know how it felt for a child to wish that his own parent read stories for him orally. I know the longing. I know the feeling.

So when given the chance to do a research, parent involvement in oral storytelling was the first idea that came to my mind. I became keen to prove that there would be positive outcomes for parent involvement. It took me a while to understand that in order for me to prove that, I should be specific on what outcomes I wanted to assess.

Having studied the specific outcomes I wanted to measure, I then embarked on the research project. Though I was enthusiastic, I found along the way that it was not that easy doing the project. I started with the survey for parents. I found some parents to be cooperative, but others took them longer to return the survey forms. Looking for the appropriate books to use for intervention was also a difficult task. Then it hit me hard. How could I provide storytelling kits to my ten participating parents? Ahh, I got no choice but to photocopy the two books I selected in 10 copies each. But my course mates questioned the copyright issue. How dare them to question me when I felt so stressed already? Upon reflection, I was thankful that they brought out that issue for I was able to make the necessary action by providing/pasting notes that they are only meant for the research and not for monetary gain. To make it short I photocopied in colour those pictures for my picture cards and laminated all of them. Imagine, I laminated 200 picture cards, 200 name cards and 200 phrase cards for the storytelling kits. Though stressed and tired, it made me happy for I was able to provide nice materials for the parents.

The development of test format for Vocabulary and Word Recognition measuring expressive and receptive skills on those areas was also taxing. With my previous knowledge of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, I was able to decide on how to go on with the test format. Marie M. Clay’s Observation of Early Literacy was also an inspiration for me in the design of the test format. After a lot of revisions, I finally came to a final test format.

I also developed the survey checklist in gauging parent involvement in oral storytelling and the evaluation checklist for the actual intervention. Though I included items that may not be relevant at the moment, I am confident that the data gathered would be helpful in future research.

Over-all, I am happy that I did this research for I have proven that there is no hardship that could not be overcome. I am also happy that through this research I was able to actually enhance the relevance of parent involvement in oral storytelling. The most that makes me happy is the fact that I became instrumental in forging the bond between parents and children through this experimentation.

Learning
I learnt that parent involvement in oral storytelling can increase scores in word recognition and vocabulary acquisition and was made stronger by the findings of my research. That is why in the future, I will always stress the value of oral storytelling to parents. I will always be available for them in helping them how to be more involved with their children. I can even suggest some techniques on oral storytelling and provide opportunities for parents to be more involved in storytelling.

In the future, I can also conduct a survey or research on the whole centre regarding this topic. I can do a similar research using bigger subjects/participants. I can also use the data I gathered to further some research.

One foremost thing I want to do in the coming future is to relay to parents the findings of my study. I can tell the parents of each child the result of the test administered. In this way, I can convince parents more on the significance of their involvement in oral storytelling to their children’s vocabulary acquisition and word recognition. When they are convinced, surely, they will continue to provide oral storytelling sessions to their children. Their children surely. will grow up to be adult readers and storytellers too in the coming future.




Monday, September 03, 2007

Congratulations...


This is my second daughter. She graduated from RMIT here in SIM Campus.
We are of course so proud of her.
She is currently working at PriceWater House Coopers.
We wish her the best.