Black Friday

It was the last day of school for this week. No chemistry class. The German students from Deutsche Schule Kuala Lumpur came to INTEC to give some presentations and have an interactive session with us. Well, it was a very light, relaxing and enjoying lesson for me. Unfortunately, the day turn out to be a bad day for me. Since the class finished at 12 p.m., I decided to stay back in library to do my revision on physics. USUALLY I WOULD GO BACK TO HOSTEL RIGHT AWAY. WELL, THIS TIME WAS UNUSUAL...

When I reached my hostel at 4.30 p.m., to my horror, my laptop on my desk was gone! I should have locked it. I should not have stayed back in library. I should have come back earlier... Everything was too late when I confirmed that my laptop was stolen. Same thing happened to Mike's laptop and Esmond's mobile phone and some money. Let me put the incident in chronological order:

12.00 p.m. Esmond and Mike went back to hostel (Kolej Cemara, Section 18) while I stayed back in library.
03.00p.m. Mike went to play badminton.
03.30p.m. Esmond fell asleep.
04.30p.m. I reached hostel and found out the burglary.
04.50p.m. We reported it to the guards on duty. They said that they could not help much as we don't have any suspect and the door was not locked when the burglary happened.
06.00p.m. We went to Police Station in Section 15 to lodge a report. After printing out the report, we were asked to look for a sarjan in-charged in Section 11.
07.40p.m. We reached Section 11 Shah Alam Police Headquarters after walking for a whole round somewhere near Blue Wave Hotel.
08.00p.m. We board T602 to Section 2. Starving...
08.25p.m. Reached Section 2 and had our dinner there.
09.10p.m. Reached hostel. Exhausting! My plan to play badminton was ruined.

Below are parts of our conversation with the sarjan which I could not forget:

Sarjan to Esmond: "Berapa harga handphone mu yang hilang?"
Esmond: "500 ratus semasa beli."
Sarjan: "Sudah berapa lama?"
Esmond: "1 tahun."
Sarjan: "Oh, sekarang sudah sangat murah, harga second-hand cuma 1 ratus."

Was he trying to joke in order to alleviate our sadness?

Sarjan to me: "Apakah tujuan kamu membuat report?"
Me: "Tangkap pencuri itu."
Sarjan: "You tere (pandai), dapat tangkap pencuri itu?"
Me: " Tak, sebab tu buat report."

Okay, if I am so good that I could catch the thief, I would not have to lodge a police report. Anyway, I don't think there is hope to get my laptop back.

Now, I am in a dilemma. My laptop is gone, and I am still bonded to Digi Internet. Should I terminate the service and pay for the modem fee or pay the bill without using the service until I get my new laptop.

Rainy Day

I like rainy day because the weather is cool, but I also hate rainy day because my clothes could not dry, my beg and shoes get wet… What a contradiction!

This afternoon, while I was browsing for reference book for ethics presentation, a group of students from faculty of education approached me. First, they asked me whether I was busy. I said no. Then, they asked me if I mind to help them. “No harm to help others.” I thought. So, I said no.

Only after that, I knew that they were going to interview me! Well, it was for their English project… So, I was given a few titles and asked to choose one. “If today was the last day on Earth what would you do?” Sounds like that. While I wrote the short essay, I had to say something or whatever that came to my mind. WHOA! It is the first time I did that – expressing ideas and writing simultaneously. I did badly :p Luckily, they helped me by asking questions so that it would not be silent on the desk. Hopefully I could help them. Anyway, I had did my best.

Speaking of that, my AS English and AS German results will be out at the end of this month. Hopefully, I could pass either one of the paper. If not, have to repeat this semester. Tiring…              

German class in semester 4

This morning, we were asked to translate a German poem – “Die Macht der Sprache” – the power of language, and translate it into our own mother tongue. As a result, the poem turn out to be Chinese poem, indigenous Malay poem, Kedahan Malay poem as well as Penang Malay poem.

reciting Chinese poem? in German class?

From left: Malay poem recitation in aboriginal tone, Kedahan Malay, and Penang Malay

It is a very meaningful poem:

Die Macht der Sprache

Und lerne ich eine Sprache neu kennen,                                      dann lehrt mich die Sprache, mich neu zu kennen.

Das macht die Sprache – die Macht der Sprache.

Und glaube ich, ich beherrsche meine Sprache,                     beherrscht womöglich meine Sprache mich.

Das macht die Sprache - die Macht der Sprache.

Und denke ich, ich spiele mit meiner Sprache,                            dann spielt noch viel mehr meine Sprache mit mir.

Das macht die Sprache - die Macht der Sprache.

Und erweitert der Mensch seine sprachlichen Möglichkeiten,          dann erweitert die Sprache die menschlichen Möglichkeiten.

Das macht die Sprache - die Macht der Sprache.

Und wenn ich meine Sprache verkommen lasse,                           dann lässt am Ende meine Sprache mich verkommen.

Das macht die Sprache - die Macht der Sprache.

Und liebe ich meine Sprache,                                                         dann liebt ganz sicherlich die Sprache mich.

Das macht die Sprache - die Macht der Sprache.

Und wenn ich denke, ich spreche jetzt hier – in diesem Text – über die Sprache,                                                                              dann spricht die Sprache eigentlich viel mehr noch über mich.

Das macht die Sprache – ich kenn die noch.