Jarod Yong

taken from myniceprofile.com Please, somebody stab me already! I want to be forever young! It seems that everybody is having a good time teasing me about my age this year. Just as I was writing this blog post,  Daren Lee  of  Production D  sent me a birthday message. By the way, if you're interested in dipping your toes into modelling/acting, contact his agency. He's legit & pretty friendly. Also, the industry is always ALWAYS looking for new faces & in ALL kinds of shapes & sizes. Honestly, I'm not as enthusiastic about leaving my twenties as I was entering it. It didn't take long before I realized that... Aging = more responsibilities + more expectations. As men, we're expected to refine like wine. Meh. I want to be a kid forever. Perhaps when I turn 40. But, that's a story for another day.

~taken from teacherscollege.tumblr.com ~ For the past 3 months, this was where I've been spending most of my time at, exercising my intellectual muscles, & will continue to do so for another 1.5 years ! More than 3 months ago, I promised you guys a lot of things on my blog. Then, there was complete silence on this blog until today! Lol! I haven't been blogging but I've actually been really active on other forms of social media. I'm constantly sharing thoughts & content on my Facebook page , Twitter , & Instagram . I guess it's a faster way to share ideas & content. I've always thought of blogs as more meaty & for my deeper thoughts. I'll write as many  blog posts as I can until the Spring semester begins on 20 Jan. So, what have I been up to for the past 3 months? Well, I've been...

A photo posted by Jarod Yong (@jarodyjk) on Sep 19, 2015 at 9:36pm PDT Finally achieved a life-long dream & caught the Phantom of the Opera musical theatre!! Reminded me of my secondary school years when I was part of the school choir taking part in district-, & state-level competitions. I remembered all the hard work that we put in to perfect the emotions & remember the words. Brought tears to my eyes listening to the songs again. If you've never caught the Phantom of the Opera before, you should. Andrew Lloyd Webber did a great job with the musical. It's one of the longest running musicals on Broadway for a reason. One thing that will surely impress you, when you catch it at Majestic, is the detailed and grandiose setups for each scene. There is a lot to take in with your eyes. Having seen countless videos & performed the songs myself, one point of criticism I had was the whole musical seemed too rushed. They didn't allow for time to pause...

I was awarded the Fulbright Graduate Study & Research Program. 2 weeks ago, I wrote about leaving the jungle school . I didn't have time to write about why I was leaving because it has been a hectic 2 weeks since then. Today, I'm finally able to find a breather to write & share. So, here it is... The reason I'm leaving is to pursue a masters degree in the US sponsored by the Fulbright Scholarship Board. In this blog post, I'll share about how I got the scholarship & encourage you to do the same. Seriously, if a mere teacher in the middle of nowhere can do it... ANYBODY can.

Taken during this year's Track & Field Competition at school with representatives from Bantin house! During the boat ride back to school this evening, all that I loved about this place became even more intense. The sound of the river water beneath the boat was crisper. The looming trees looked greener. The bright blue sky looked clearer. As the boat surged forward, fresh air washed upon my face & tasted sweeter. The birds chirping in the evening were even louder. Deep in my heart, I cherished every moment because this might just be my last boat ride to SMK Katibas . This is indeed my last week at the jungle school. I was putting off writing about this because I didn't know what to say & I didn't want to deal with the emotions. I kept myself very busy these last few weeks running programmes & having a lot of fun with the students. (I still have 2 more programmes I haven't blogged about so stay tuned for that.) I wanted to make my last moments count...

The motivation talk by (from top left) Kelvin, Tonny & Devebra. Last weekend, 2 Engineers & 1 Kolej Laila Taib staff member came to SMK Katibas to conduct a motivation talk & an engineering workshop for the students at no expense to the school. Mind you, they had to make use of their annual leave to make time for this programme so I was extremely honoured to receive them. Despite having really successful careers, they were all very friendly & humble as well as involved with a lot of volunteer work with NGOs. This is exactly what I want my students to be in the future. After reading about the Japanese lectuer's visit to my school & the lack of Iban role models for the students at my remote school, Devebra decided to pull together her professional Iban friends & see who was interested in volunteering their time for a programme at my remote school. 2 really impressive Iban engineers answered her call & the rest is history. This is the first time I...

Windows 10 is very new so bugs are absolutely expected. I took a leap of faith by installing it. Happy I did though... Last night, I left my Asus N61j (bought in 2010) on overnight for the lengthy Windows 7 to Windows 10 free update . The update downloaded quietly in the background & a window appeared early last night informing me that it was ready & prompting me to install it. Since I depend on this laptop to get work done, I didn't want to have my current system configurations messed with (like the many horror stories I've heard about Windows 8.1) so I wanted to delay the installation. Unfortunately, I clicked wrongly & ended up at the point of no return. The installation was confirmed so I restarted my computer to allow it to happen. It took a really long time so I left & went to bed. When I woke up the next morning, I was excited to try out the new OS. I moved my mouse & wondered why the screen was still off. I pushed the power button & restar...

I learned how to do this so now I'm teaching everyone! Not too long ago, I asked for old laptops to be donated to the English Language Society at my school . We wanted to flood the school with printed media produced by the students for students but couldn't because the computers that we used in the past were damaged by the unstable current produced by our old & dying generator . This is usually how many electrical equipment at our school end up & why I use a regulator at my jungle home . Thankfully, we have a new generator now . If you have a spare laptop or printer that is just lying around the house/office, please contact me . WE NEED THOSE DESPERATELY!!! The Facebook post was shared by a large group of people but I have yet to receive even 1 message from a prospective donor. Disappointing. However, the need was too great for me to stop there. So, during the Raya break, I returned to my hometown & asked around. I found an old 2008  Dell Insp...

Mosquito coils = The first line of defence against savage jungle mosquitoes. Remember when there was completely no electricity at my school ? It happened during the dry season so the nights were really really warm & hard to sleep with the windows closed. Why close the windows you ask? Because if you don't close the windows, the savages from the jungle will climb in & suck your blood! Literally! I'm talking about swarms of mosquitoes gang-banging your skin & leaving you with clusters of chickenpox-like bumps on your skin in the morning! These guys even bite through clothing!! The itchiness that ensues will practically ensure that you never have a good night sleep. In order to keep those monsters at bay, I had to go really low-tech. I eventually experimented with mosquito coils. There are so many in the market & I thought that all of them worked the same since they had the same basic ingredients. I was wrong. They had different effects on the mosquitoes ...

Dr Kumiko Date in action.  This quiet, gentle & humble lady is hiding a big & generous heart inside. During this session, she shared about the Japanese language & culture. In July, Dr Kumiko Date from Tokyo , a lecturer of the Japanese language at the University of Malaya , visited SMK Katibas  to meet & deliver a talk for the wonderful children at my beloved jungle school. She had only been in Malaysia for 3 months when she embarked on this adventure to the hinterland of Borneo. All because a colleague showed her this  which moved her. She wanted to meet me & my students. I found a perfect speaker to inspire my students. We exchanged emails & she agreed to visit my school & deliver a talk to all the students. In turn, we provided her with food, lodging & a once in a lifetime experience. She came at little to NO COST to the school. Not only did she pay for her own return flights from KL to Sibu (during the peak-priced Raya season),...

Even in remote areas, you have these standard JKR quarters so it's really not that bad if the living quarters are well maintained. If you want to be a teacher in Malaysia, you can expect to be placed in a rural or remote school for your first posting just like I was. But it doesn't have to be a complete torture. It's actually a wonderful opportunity to experience the best part of being a teacher = changing lives & making a real difference. Believe me, there is no greater sense of satisfaction than when you see a child you've worked with so hard & so long excel in their examinations. There are no tuition centres here so you can go to bed with a smile knowing that the achievement has it's roots in you. Let's not forget the beauty of nature & the fresh smog-less air. When I arrived here many years ago, I knew that I had to root myself at the school for at least 4 years in order to see the change that I can make in the school. That's exac...

Mechanic & team at work assembling the new generator. With great pleasure, I would like to announce that there is currently 24 hours of electricity at  SMK Katibas ! A brief timeline of events : On 24 April, the sole-functioning generator at my school broke down causing the school to lose both electricity & water supply . 4 weeks later, on 20 May, that generator was overhauled & running again at school supplying 13 hours of electricity. 4 weeks later, on 23 June, the water pump was functioning again supplying river water to the buildings at school twice daily. 3 weeks later, on 15 July, a new 150KVA generator was brought to school & fully functional. Rotating with the current generator, there is now 24 hours of electricity!!! I would like to express my appreciation to everyone involved in materialising this new generator so quickly. Thank you to the local district education officers, the state education officers, the federal education ministry offi...

The iconic photograph of this programme. Last weekend, I brought 5 top-performing PT3 students from my remote school  on a trip to Sibu  as a reward for their diligence in the exam. At the same time, my hidden agenda is to influence them to think bigger for themselves & also for their rural Iban community. A trip to Sibu might not be much to many of you reading this but to my students from extremely humble backgrounds in ulu  Song , it is likely the equivalent of a trip to Singapore for someone from KL. When I first started running this programme in 2011 , it seemed to me like just a simple reward for students who achieved As for English PMR. But, it inspired them & the subsequent cohorts to work hard for an A in PMR English so much so that I decided to do it again in 2012 , 2013 , &  2014 . The As just kept coming! Also, we were soon getting our first PMR 8A students so I decided to up the ante with a trip to Kuching for t...

Disclaimer: To keep the blog running ,  I have received monetary compensation for writing this blog post. Nonetheless, this is still my honest opinion & I will only write about products or events which are beneficial to you, my readers. Yup, representatives from St Anne's College of the  University of Oxford will be in Malaysia to talk about how to get accepted. Also, you'll get the chance to meet & learn from your future professors . I was pretty excited when I first heard of this conference. Since it would cost too much to bring even one of my students to this event, I wanted to attend myself so that I could coach my students & share with the teachers I'm mentoring. Alas, I've got a super fun programme planned at school which will take up that entire weekend. Therefore, I'm sharing about it here so that you have a chance of getting your students there! They'll get a nice certificate too. Lucky accompanying teachers might be able to sneak...

She kept silent. With one hand, she held my hand while the other held back her emotions. It was long awkward silence. I started to wonder whether she was going to turn me down... On 7 May 2015, I proposed to my girlfriend, Michelle "Noelle" Ng. This is the story of how it happened & how I came to the decision. It's full of ups & downs, mystery, romance & drama: a story worth telling. I'm sure that when you look at the date, you'll remember that it was during the power outage at my school . You see, I was at the lowest point in my career. At that time, I had just written  a viral blog post &, after the ensuing media frenzy, I was deeply disturbed at the possible consequences. Having worked so hard & given so much for so many years in the jungle, I was distraught at the thought that it could be dismantled & discredited in an instant by the powers that be. It was so bad that I had sleepless nights & emotional breakdowns.

**Update** DO NOT PURCHASE THIS COMPANY'S SERVICES They have over-promised & under-delivered. I will not be renewing my subscription with the company. When I have time, I'll show you what their horribly amateurish website builder functions. When you have an AI that does all the coding & design ground work for you, all you have to do is focus on the overall vision & tweaking instead of spending hours coding & getting frustrated when the codes don't work out the way you want it to (speaking from experience). I first learned about The Grid  from a video interview of Startups To Watch during the 2015 Social Media Week in New York. I was immediately attracted to it because, for a long time, I have been wanting to modify the design of my blog &, until that point, I was still willing to pay for someone to do it for me. Thank God I didn't because I might not have the know-how to modify my blog post-designer! At the pre-launch price of $8/month for lif...

A simple yet powerful writing programme: the Pen Pal Project. How do you feel when you ask your students to do a writing assignment? For me, it's less than pleasant. Even with the "better" classes, I have to flex my teacher muscles just to get my students to hand in their work &, most of the time, I get half-hearted work which is hastily done, short &, after reading a few of them, repetitive. I spent my early teaching years pondering & experimenting to pique my students' interest in writing & motivate them to write more. I started by asking what would motivate ME to write? 1) An authentic audience 2) Social interaction 3) Novel experience With these 3 factors, I experimented with all sorts of programmes like getting my students to make their own big books because we didn't have big books at that time, getting students to tell stories to other students, & show & tell. None worked as well as the Pen Pal Project which I started exp...

Imagine using candles every night for 3 weeks. We'll find a way to carry on despite our circumstances. Nonetheless, do continue to pray for us. This is not the first time we've had  electricity  or  water  problems at school. We've had them since my first year here. Back then, outages rarely lasted more than a few days. Last year was when things started to get worse. We had 2 lengthy power outages for up to a cumulative 2 weeks. Long-term solutions should have been implemented then. The best thing is, every time something happens to the water or electric supply, ALL the teachers, students & staff will band together to make things better & soldier through the extremely difficult circumstances instead of pointing fingers or merely complaining. We always have teachers who are willing to step up . I'm eternally thankful to be part of this family so early in my teaching career. It is only in difficult times do we learn the true meaning of esprit de corps ...

See that trolley? See those portable generators? Early every morning, they would put the portable generators on the trolley & push them to the office where they ran the generators so that we could do some basic office work on limited devices. Every evening, they would move those generators to the hostels & quarters to light up corridors & the school hall so students could study at night. Imagine the same people doing it every day for weeks without fail. Imagine students running away from helping because of the trouble it took to bathe after the hard work! If this isn't heroism, I don't know what is. They could have just as easily stayed at home & done nothing but complain about the situation. I'm sure that you are well-aware of the power outage at my school . You might also be aware that, because I was the one who appealed to the public for help, I am bestowed with an abundant  halo effect  which resulted in me being thought of as...

My first thoughts were: What? Is this a virus? Scam? Still, I clicked on it to find out what it was about. Today, I turned on my laptop & found this peculiar icon on my taskbar. I wondered for a moment whether my laptop was infected with a virus but I'm really careful with viruses & "free" toolbars so it was likely that this was a legit icon from Microsoft. So, I clicked to find out what it was about & unveiled a wonderful present from uncle Bill & co.

One weekend in April,  a team of 8 volunteers from Generasi Gemilang conducted a Leadership Camp for my Form 5 & 4 students! Thank you, Generasi Gemilang, HuayPhing, Derek ,  HuiPing , WaiPeng,  Kwok ,  Sarah , Joy & Charlene! How did this happen? Back in January, I got a call out of the blue from Derek who was my team mate in our secondary school national-level winning choir team. He was touched by what he had seen circulating on Facebook about my efforts in my remote school. He is a volunteer with Generasi Gemilang & wanted to explore the possibility of running a programme at my school this year. I checked GG out & was really impressed by what they've done . Then, I was connected with HuayPhing who is the head of school programmes &, together, we planned for a camp designed to address the needs of my students in order to quip them to not only excel in whatever they choose to do but also to overcome specific social issues their com...

Last weekend, I conducted a workshop titled "Lessons from the ♥ of Borneo" at  Curtin University Sarawak for Teach For Malaysia fellows placed in Miri & Subis . Due to the power outage at my school , I was only able to prepare the PowerPoint presentation for this workshop the night before. Which was also why I wasn't able to write an update on the situation at school last weekend. I was totally exhausted! I will write an update this weekend. I've got some good news. Despite preparing the slides the night before, I planned for the workshop earlier & we had lots of fun. I shared about the teaching conditions at my school, my experiences teaching at a remote school, as well as techniques, activities & pedagogies which worked in my situation. You can download the PowerPoint slides & view pictures of the workshop below. It is always a privilege to share with the fellows of Teach For Malaysia . I always leave with a sense of confidence that they ...

Candlelight dinners every night. I've also become very good at Xiang Qi (Chinese Chess) & Dou Shou Qi (Jungle Chess) . Dear supporters of my school, thank you so much for sharing the call for help  so fervently that it went viral on social media. Each & every one of you have demonstrated that Malaysians of all walks of life really do care. I am thankful to have so many angels out there looking out for my school & sharing our situation with the influential people they know. Now, there is both attention on our situation from the ground & from "above". Thankfully, we have now got the full attention of the relevant authorities & they are working extra hard to swiftly materialise their promises to our school. Improvements are happening every day due to the combined efforts of people of all levels. With so much public interest, I am confident that the school will be up & running like it's supposed to be very very soon. If I am allowed to, I w...

There is a factual error in one of the images in this article . The image is of an article in the alumni magazine of my alma mater . I have addressed the error here . In the image, it says that my school is 3 hours from the nearest town which is wrong. We are 1 hour from the nearest town, Song, & 3 hours from the nearest city, Sibu. On Thursday, 7 May 2015, I was featured in an article on Oh! Media . I never knew what Oh! Media was until their post about me went viral. I thought that they were just a small internet periodical which wanted to help share the plight of my school . I never knew they had such a large following. From the beginning, they said that they wanted to highlight the point that there is a Chinese guy teaching in the jungle which is unimaginable to their Malay majority audience. I told them that I wasn't the only guy teaching at my school but they could only write about me if they mentioned my Malay, Chinese & Iban colleagues who are struggl...

There is a factual error here. We do not take the boats every day. We take 2 boats to the school & stay in the quarters on site. Can't imagine? Perhaps these photos of my school will help. On Tuesday, 5 May 2015, I was featured in The Sun Daily in the "Next Gen" column for notable youth in an article titled " The Jungle Teacher " written by Alicia Nicholle Ng who paid her own way to my school to be a volunteer for a week-long camp for my students . She is truly a gem & someone whose heart is in the right place. You can read the article by clicking on the image above & zooming. Or, you can read part of the article online:  http://www.thesundaily.my/node/307834

Imagine this is your life. Imagine spending so many years getting a degree, only to leave your home, take flights & ride boats to go to a remote school in the middle of nowhere to accept the challenge of educating rural children without knowing when you'll get to return. All because you want to materialise a dream of making a difference & changing lives. Imagine going to school knowing that you'll have no electricity. No electricity = the pump will not function = no water. Imagine carrying your clothes, toiletries & dirty dishes in pails & walking 10 minutes through rough terrain to the nearby river to wash up. Furthermore, you'll have to carry one or two pails of water back to your living quarters for toilet use & general cleaning. Imagine having to clear all the food in your fridge lest it rots. Imagine having to cook your meals with murky river water. Imagine the hot afternoons without even a fan. Imagine teaching in classrooms with full forma...

Last year, I discovered that one of my students could draw anime characters really well. He showed me his folder full of amazing creations & it left me wondering how I could help him get his work appreciated instead of just doing nothing in a folder in the jungle. Then, I came up with the idea of a graphic novel for the school . I empowered him to form a team of his choosing & gave him the task of producing English language comics for the school. He made a few last year & the students at school loved having something 90% graphic to read. This year, I improved on the programme. I realised that it was too taxing on 1 team to consistently produce graphic novels throughout the year so, this year, I scouted for 2 more talented students & again allowed them to form teams of their choosing. This year, I have 3 teams producing comics for the school. The best part is the team members thoroughly enjoyed this English language "homework" (probably a first for some of ...

My students & the first motivational talk of the year! I believe that everyone has a unique story to share & that story will more than motivate & inspire my students. I realised a long time ago that my students lacked role models in their community who were able to give them insights into a better & brighter future due to their unfortunate circumstance of being in the middle of the jungle without money, influence or power. Instead of pointing my fingers at the school counsellor & saying that it's his job, I take it upon myself to personally seek out people who would enjoy & benefit from the experience of travelling to an exotic destination & making a difference in the lives of disadvantaged & forgotten children. This year, I'm glad that I found one in Adriena Ng, a young stewardess of an airline that I've been complaining about recently . She took time off her annual leave, booked her own ticket from KL to Sibu & paid her own wa...

I was so delighted when I saw this newspaper article & the video above made by NST. No matter how long it took me to load the video above on my jungle internet connection, I waited patiently to see the Orang Asli children travel to their new school build by the villagers themselves! The school looks very impressive! Check it out!

In February, I missed 2 flights because the flights left even earlier than 20 minutes before scheduled departure. Read the story & my advice on catching AirAsia flights  here . I thought that it was unfair for passengers who were early to be left behind so I wrote the following feedback & submitted it via the AirAsia contact page  on the 21st of March. A stern letter reflecting my sentiments of the practice. On the 26th of March, I received a reply.

Nope, I didn't. This needs to change. When I was a child, I watched those American movies (or was it Indian movies... I can't remember exactly...) where the main character or someone emotionally close to him is in desperate need of organs but is put at the bottom of a long waiting list because they are normal people just like me with not much money & would die in a certain period of time unless a miracle donor appears. Being the sweet little thing I was (you can ask my mom about how 'sweet' I was as I was jumping from furniture to furniture & skilfully evading her capture), I developed a deep desire to be that mysterious miracle donor which appears out of thin air and saves the day for a sobbing & heart-warming happy ending. The minority people are the majority of pledges & donors. I wonder who the recipients are... My girlfriend was way ahead of me. She signed up silently last year & I only discovered it when she shared a photo of her do...

This happened to me 2 times in the past few months. I arrived at the airport early, loitered around, called a friend, did some shopping & arrived at the boarding gate 20-25 minutes BEFORE departure only to discover that my plane had left me behind! (To clarify: I was at the gate at least 20 minutes before & the plane was GONE. Meaning the gate closed long before I got there.) The best thing was, it still said Boarding on the TV screen both times. I looked before I went to the boarding gate & after I've my flights departed early. I went to the office to complain & I was told that the captain had the prerogative to initiate Annex 22 which he did. I tried to look up this protocol on the internet but could only find a book of flight protocols called Annex 22. I was about to write a complaint letter to the airline company when I realised something...

This one works too. But if you want something better... Read on. This is a light-hearted story of what happened to me during CNY  this year. I learned an amazingly effective way to shut up a group of rowdy children (all 5 years & below) which was very likely used on me once upon a time but I have forgotten due to extremely violent emotional scarring. I had just entered my relative's house when a group of children who were already there started making a lot of noise with one 5 year old girl being particularly screamy. Her mother was clearly exhausted & fed up from an entire day of pacifying a sugar-charged kid so she said something really brilliant.

In response to my blog post , a rep from Foodpanda sent me this email on 18 February 2015: Very level-headed & tactful response. This is a model of how organisations should respond to criticism. I'm actually surprised to get such a mature response from the company which made me wait half a day for food that I pre-paid for.

This is what it looks like to arrive at Song , Sarawak, on an express boat! This is what it looks like to arrive at SMK Katibas , Song , Sarawak, on a long boat!

Yes, I spend a lot of time on boats just waiting for time to go by. Why not use it to improve myself? How many of us have had teachers who tell us to " do as they say, not as they do "? I've had plenty of those. I've also had teachers who walked the talk. It doesn't take a genius to figure out which ones I respected more & desired to learn more from. Actually, as I was growing up, I've known plenty of adults who were more than willing to dish out advice they do not follow themselves. Everybody does it. Not just teachers. Now that I'm a teacher myself, I do my best to live up to all the expectations & standards I set up for my students. I ensure that I practice my reading, writing, listening & speaking regularly. More importantly, I'm also building my character & my soft skills . Stuff that's not easily measured but is easily discerned by others & especially the more-than-perceptive children in our classrooms. Literacy s...

To be honest, I do feel like this sometimes. When I started teaching, I was excited to go into the jungle & serve my country. I didn't care where I was posted. I wrote on my posting form " dimana saya diperlukan dan kebolehan saya dimanfaatkan ". I was willing to go to the highest mountains, the deepest jungles, the furthest islands, or the worst urban schools. I understood very early on that WHERE I was didn't matter. WHO I was mattered more. I wanted to make a difference & I think I have achieved all that in my 6 full years at my jungle school . During my first 2 years at school, I really  enjoyed myself at the jungle school , I never really understood the feelings of someone who really wanted a transfer. Mainly because I had a good leader who made the teaching experience purposeful. Also, I felt a deep sense of accomplishment & satisfaction with my work. I had decided to root myself at the school & commit myself to 5 years there. Then came t...

It started in Singapore in 2012 & it is now worldwide. Should be good right? Foodpanda is a food delivery service partnering with local restaurants . Before I used the service, I looked on Google for authentic reviews but I only found blogs which looked very much like advertorials (advertisement-tutorials teaching you how to use a service). All of them ordered from major restaurant chains in the Klang Valley/Singapore & said good things about Foodpanda. Since they're operating worldwide, they should be world-class, right? Read my experience & decide for yourself.