Jarod Yong

During this transfer season, I am constantly reminded of a story by the Brothers Grimm: The Golden Goose . This is a funny story about a simple man who was generous to an old man & was given a golden goose. When people saw the goose, they wanted to take a piece of it but was stuck to the goose instead. They wouldn't let go even though others laughed at how funny they looked. Once in a while, a school will receive golden geese in the form of teachers who are head & shoulders above the others. Every school administrator loves to welcome such teachers & they naturally want more of them. On the other hand, they should also be prepared for that one day when goose will want to go. How many principals would refuse to let go of the golden goose? I have heard of too many & sometimes it's the District Education Officers who get stuck to the golden goose. They held onto the goose because it was golden but little did they know that greed & selfishness reaps what ...

I did the Gangnam Style in the jungle! I did it yesterday morning during the Uniform Bodies Camp at SMK Katibas. When I was put in-charge of the morning exercises, I thought to myself... why not? After 1 week of practising every day to downloaded youtube tutorials in front of mirrors smaller than my belly, I made it happen. Believe me when I say, this dance is harder than it looks. Bloody hard. I'm not the most natural of dancers. So if I can do it, so can you. It wasn't a perfect rendition of the dance but I enjoyed it &, most importantly, the students enjoyed it. This was probably the first time most of them heard the song. Some of them even started shuffling at the horse-riding part! **snicker** So outdated! I've got Psy glasses! Now, where can I find cowboy attire? I embedded bits of aerobics to parts of the dance & simplified it to make it easier for the students to follow. Of course, I did not tamper with the signature horse-ri...

When you love something you don't mind spending your hard-earned money on it. That's why men are willing to part with ridiculous amounts of money for a ring with an enormous stone & then splash even more cash on elaborate preparations & celebrations. Also, it's the reason why women are willing to purchase tons of merchandise bearing the images of pop artists although they do not understand a word they say in their catchy songs. It also works the other way around. The more you invest time/effort/money into something, the more you pay attention to it. At the end of the day, you invest because you love it & then you cant let it go because you've put in too much. It could be a vicious cycle or it could be a wonderful synergy of motivation, passion & purpose. I say 'invest' because putting time/effort/money into something you love is never a waste. You will always gain something from it that feeds your spirit. Similarly, if you're a t...

When I was told I got the Malam Ambang Kemerdekaan assignment during the staff meeting early this year, I was apprehensive because I already had a packed year with an Asrama activity planned for every month. Why wasn't something like this given to another less burdened department or individual? Why was I named personally for this task when they knew that I'd be busy with my own activities as Chief Warden? It's even stranger that Bulan Kemerdekaan was under the Humanities Department. Why was this small event under Bulan Kemerdekaan specially given to me? Interesting. Anyway, I gave my admin the benefit of the doubt. They probably had good reasons for this & I accepted the assignment without a word. It was something new & I simply included it into my list of Asrama activities. Also, I had a trick up my sleeve to make this event a memorable one. Don't worry. I didn't do Oppa Gangnam Style. Although, I'd rock it. I did something even better & more...