2019 TEDx Kenyalang: The Best Speech In My Life

-
Photo Credit: Ho Jia Yiing
Last November 17th, I delivered the best speech of my life on the TEDxKenyalang stage.
  
Guess: How much time did I have to prepare for my TEDx opportunity?
a) 1 month          b) 3 months          c) 1 week          d) 3 weeks

TEDxKenyalang is held on 17th November every year. I got an invitation email on 30th October, barely 3 weeks before the biggest speaking opportunity of my life. I almost said no.

When I got the email, I was fully occupied with supporting my Form 5 students for their SPM English paper on the 5th. After that, there were a bunch of documents I had to compile or "create" for my annual keberhasilan evaluation & I had to complete numerous online data entry nonsense that Guru Tingkatans can relate to. Then, I had to run a workshop about the new Form 4 curriculum for 2020 on the 15th for the English panel at my school. Also, I was drafting proposals & writing letters to get the funds to send a good student from my school to an academic excellence workshop in KL so that this kid can share what he learned with his peers next year to help my academically deprived students do better. How do I fit the prep for a TEDx talk into all that?

Photo Credit: TEDxKenyalang
A lot of people asked for a video of my talk, but it'll only be available on the TEDx YouTube site when approved by TED. Let's hope that they approve of what I have to say. I'm a little afraid because I used some Iban & I was speaking specifically for Sarawak. Also, they've only approved 11 out of roughly 36 talks from 3 past TEDxKenyalang events, so the odds are not in my favor! We shall see come December 12/13th. That's the date previous talks were uploaded onto YouTube.
  
Then, I heard that still small voice in my heart. "This is what you were brought back to do. This opportunity was provided for you to speak up for Sarawak." And speak up I did, powering through sleepless nights & crippling self-doubt (The fear is real. I'm just a low-ranking DG41 teacher given the opportunity to speak on an internationally recognized stage. What if people didn't like my message or if they can't be bothered like this dude?). During my TEDxKenyalang talk, I asked the audience a simple question, "is education important to you?" & challenged them to put their money where their mouth is. Show me your action. In fact, let's act together.

This is the same invitation I'm extending to you. Join the movement that moves Sarawak upwards in Education & transforms it into a beacon of hope in Malaysia &, perhaps even, the world. Here is a platform for concerned citizens in Malaysia to actively mobilize, organize, start small, take simple baby steps, and contribute to change & improve our education system for the good of all Malaysians, starting with Sarawak, the state that's too often at the bottom of all academic rankings. If what we're doing can work in the worst situations, it can work anywhere. Join Allies of Education (Sarawak) https://www.facebook.com/groups/554046128744139/

Wouldn't you rather contribute to change than just sit around commenting furiously about education on your phone? Talk is cheap. Time to walk it. If you care, prove it. Let's work together. Lest you be left out of the most important movement of your life.

More Photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2351868424942556

As a speaker, I was given 2 complimentary tickets. I decided to use one on the best student at SMK Tabuan Jaya in hopes that he will be inspired to dream big & do great things in his life. I challenged Chris to speak on that red dot one day. I tried to ask for 2-3 more tickets so I could bring more students, but I was sadly rejected.

Later on, his mother sent me a message thanking me for involving him & I invited her to work with me to ensure that Chris does his best in SPM 2020. I really love parents who are aware & concerned about their child's education. Is there any wonder why Chris is the best student at my school?
  
Photo Credit: TEDxKenyalang
Amazing people who shined & inspired on the 2019 TEDx Kenyalang stage.
  
Photo Credit: TEDxKenyalang
Can't thank this amazing team of volunteers enough! Thanks for including me in this year's edition of TEDx Kenyalang! Thank you, Ali & Nigel for suggesting me, Zaiwin for inviting me, Wanni for holding my plagiarizing self to the deadlines & answering all my questions kindly, Ariff & Garry for coaching me, & all the volunteers who were so helpful in helping me deliver my talk.
Keep in touch & look me up for collaborations!

Popular posts from this blog

Understanding The New SPM (2021) English 1119 Paper Format

-
Image
This outline & those of other SPM language papers were made publicly available on the Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia (LPM) website . I'm sure you've seen the above being circulated on the internet. But, what does it mean? How does this paper compare to the current SPM paper for English? Do we have to change our testing practices in Form 4? At this moment, information is sparse despite great public interest. As the head of the English panel at my school, my Form 4 colleagues will come to me for what to do & parents will ask me what this is about. Until we have very specific instructions from the ministry, this is what I will be telling my colleagues & parents based on the limited amount of information available to me from my intimate experience with the current SPM paper & second-hand information about the PT3 English paper. Let me know if I got anything wrong or if you have more detailed information.
Open Full Post »

What To Do When Your Unifi Service Suddenly Drops

-
Image
After finally putting my kid to sleep, I was about to settle into the couch with my wife & stream a movie, when my Unifi fiber optic internet connection suddenly dropped. When it didn't come back after 1 hour, I realized that I had to do something. Considering that I pay my bills promptly every month, it must be a technical issue. Here's what I did to fix the problem. It look me less than 20 minutes. 1. First, I checked my modem (the white machine). I checked the lights on the modem. When the modem is functioning properly, lights will be on for POWER, PON, LAN1 & TEL1. If the red light for LOS lights up, call 100 to resolve the issue. Also, I made sure that all the wire connections were tight. 2. Next, I checked my router (the black machine). Again, I checked the lights. When the router is functioning properly, lights will be on for POWER, GLOBE, WIFI, LAN1. My POWER light was blinking, so that means that there was no internet connection. Again, I made sure th...
Open Full Post »

How To Fix Logitech Options Not Loading

-
Image
I use a Logitech K380 bluetooth keyboard at home & love it to bits. Very quiet & the tactile response is just perfect. Also, it's super small so easy to put away when I need to pile exam papers on my desk. Still, there's one small problem though... It is a compact keyboard so the multimedia buttons double as function keys. I use the function keys A LOT & it's really cumbersome for me to have to hold the "fn" button every time I want to use them. I.e., try pressing alt+fn+f4 with one hand. Thankfully, with the Logitech Options software, I can default to the function keys. A few months ago, I was chagrined to learn that my keyboard had spontaneously returned to factory settings. "No problem", I thought. "I'll just change the settings in Logitech Options." Only to find that the app wouldn't load on my Windows 10 machine, resulting in the blank window you see screen-captured above. "Let me try reinstalling." Uni...
Open Full Post »

A Review of Mosquito Coils In The Market

-
Image
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 ...
Open Full Post »

Tip SPM Dari Pelajar-Pelajar Cemerlang Straight A+

-
Image
This morning, I attended Kapten Talk 2.0: Student Edition. After feeding my baby & tucking him in for his late morning nap, I finally had time to look at my messages. Lo' & behold, a friend sent me a poster about a webinar by straight-A+ students. Interesting! I sheepishly looked at the date, what? TODAY! Heart racing, I quickly glanced at the time, 11 PG. Oh, petang. Wait a minute, MANA ADA 11 PETANG? PAGI LA BODO! My eyes darted to the upper right corner of the screen. 10.45AM! I quickly forwarded the poster + some ulasan to ALL my students' groups as well as to my school staff's chatgroup on WhatsApp. Feeling bad that I gave them so little notice, I knew I had to attend, take notes & share those notes with my students. Since I'm doing that, I might as well share it with everyone. The notes are written in my broken BM to include my lowest-performing students. "How much you achieve is how much you prepare" - Luqman Nawar, 9A+
Open Full Post »