Jarod Yong

Very few teachers can say that they like teaching in their school. I don't think a majority of my colleagues will say that. Even in the urban areas, I don't think many teachers will say that too. You may think that I have it easy. Mind you... I don't. I hold many posts in my school that involve a heavy dosage of work . I am head of the English Panel & the editor of the school magazine. I take charge of the English Language Society as well as the Police Cadets. I also attend & photograph all of the school's activities. I am invigilator for PMR & penyelia kawasan for SPM. Furthermore, I teach 4 classes of which 2 are PMR classes & I constantly give them essays & drills which I have to mark even during my scarce & valuable free time. Come to think of it... there's actually very little to like about teaching where I am at. There's only 14hrs of electricity. That means no water in the pipes, no TV & no ceiling fan outside workin...

Imagine it's just any ordinary Monday morning, you're walking to school & suddenly you see this greeting you at the door. Last week, SMK Katibas celebrated the English language by having the English Language Panel (ELP), in conjunction with the English Language Society (ELS), organise the 2010 English Language Week (ELW)! It was a blast!!! For the opening ceremony, we buried a Time Capsule . Every student from every class was given written or semi-writing assignments to complete in the English language & be placed within the capsule. Teachers & staff were invited to contribute as well. To be opened during ELW 2013! Every afternoon of ELW, there was an ELS BBQ to sell scrumptious burgers & savoury hot dogs fresh from the BBQ pit! We sold out 40 burgers & 40 hot dogs in 2 afternoons! The ELS will be doing this once a fortnight to raise funds to pay for their T-shirts (instead of burdening their already cash strapped parents). They le...

Savadecrap! (Greetings) Karpkuncarp! (Thank You) I've been carp-ing & speaking English at a baby slow pace for 5 days during the holidays in Phuket, Thailand. I've fallen in love with the good food & the friendly people. Thailand is such a great place to spend your holidays in! I spent 5 nights in Phuket & paid around RM400 for return flights with AirAsia. My travel budget (including flight) was around RM1000 without shopping (including shopping RM2500). I think I've pretty much experienced most of what Phuket has to offer. The only thing I missed was the Muai Thai boxing. Here are some highlights of my trip. Accomodation Deluxe Room - Thavorn Grand Plaza Hotel I spent 5 nights in Phuket. 3 in Phuttasa Residence , Patong Beach. 2 in Thavorn Grand Plaza Hotel , Phuket Town. Accommodation is VERY cheap in Phuket. For 5 nights, we paid a total of ONLY RM200. The hotels were clean, comfortable & had en suite bathrooms, fridges, towels ...

It's 12 am & I'm experiencing the first of many blackouts at my school. Today (1 July) is the first day that this rural school will only receive enough diesel for 14hrs of electricity per day. This means that we will have to cut 10hrs of electricity out of our every day life. This is our daily schedule: 5am Students wake up.            1pm Morning classes end. 3pm Afternoon classes begin.   5pm Afternoon classes end. 7pm Evening self-study begins. 10pm Evening tea ends. We're really being pushed here. On a bare minimum, my school requires at least 13hrs of electricity to run! Our curricular & co-curricular activities can still go on but gone are the comforts of a blasting fan on a hot day, refreshing afternoon showers, relaxing in front of the tv/computer or working late. I'll probably miss most of the 2010 World Cup games. bummer~~ I'm not going to point fingers & start a pointless rant but...