July 2012 - Terengganu

EVENTS
Musical Drama Competition 2012: An Event to be Remembered
INSIDE:
By NAJLAA’ NASUHA MOHD RADIN, NOR ASHIKIN YUSOF, ANIZAN SULAIMAN, FIRHANA NUR MOHMED HUSSIN,
DR. GHANI ISMAIL, MOHD IKRAM MOHD NOR RIZAN, NUR AZYAN SHALIHAH MOHD SHAFIEE, NUR HAFIZAH RABI’AH
HUSIN, NUR SYIKRI HARUN, NUR SYAZWANI HALIM, SHAHIDATUL MASLINA MAT SO’OD, SHAMSHAD BEGHAM OTHMAN,
SUHAILA SULONG DAN WAN NAJMIYYAH WAN MD ADNAN
O
n June 16 2012, another important event was
marked on the Academy of Language Studies’ calendar. A musical drama night was successfully held on
that night, organized by the APB Student Development Bureau (Biro Pembangunan Pelajar APB) and participated by
Bachelor Degree students from different faculties at UiTM
Dungun. It was organized with the purpose to develop and
enhance students’ self confidence in presenting in front of
the crowd, explore their creativity with the language, show
the spirit of working together as a team and at the same
time to learn and practice English language in a fun and relaxing way. The event took place at 8.00 pm after being officiated by Prof Madya Dr Abdol Samad Nawi, the Campus
Rector.
The musical drama night competition started off with
the first performance from the Bachelor of Computer Sciences (Hons) students with the title Please Mr Postman,
which was supervised by Miss Shahidatul Maslina, followed
by the Bachelor Sc. (Hons) Food Service Management students with the title I Think I Love You, which was supervised
by Miss Nurul Amilin. The next three performances were Ma
Baker, which was presented by Business Administration
(Hons) Islamic Banking students and supervised by Mr Ishak
Badaruddin and Madam Aileen Farida, followed by Part
Time Lover, which was performed by the Bachelor in Office
System Management (Hons) students and supervised by
Right: The Rector
presenting a
mock cheque to
the
representative of
the 1st prize winners, for their
heart-tugging
‘Please Mr. Postman’ drama.
Right: The
Copacabana
team during one
of their vibrant
dance moves
Miss Shamshad Begham and lastly, the Bachelor of Administrative Science (Hons) students with Copacabana, which was
supervised by Miss Norhayati. Several weeks of practicing
acting, singing, dancing seems worth for all the participants
as the night was filled with joys and laughter by the audience. We believed all the sweat and tears were paid off
with excellent applause from the audience on all of the performances. Kudos to all the committee members, supporting staff and participants for their efforts in making the
event to be an enjoyable and wonderful night! Below is the
list of the winners on that night:
First Place—Please Mr Postman by the Bachelor of Computer Science(Hons) students
Second Place
- Ma Baker by the Bachelor of Business
Administration (Hons) Islamic Banking students
Third Place - Copacabana by the Bachelor of Administrative
Science (Hons) students
Consolation Prizes - Part Time Lover bythe Bachelor in Office System Management (Hons) students
- I Think I Love You by the Bachelor Sc.
(Hons) Food Service Management students
It is hoped that more students’ activities will be organized in
the future to promote language learning in a fun and exciting way. 
Above:
Inspired by
Boney M’s
‘Ma Baker’
song, this
team placed
2nd in the
competition.
Left: The
Rector with
the Best
Actor award
recipient
I S SU E 6
 OBE: KEKURANGAN ITU KELEBIHAN
 BODY LANGUAGE
 COMMENTARY ON ANGLOPHONE WRITINGS
3
4
6
 BAHASA SLANGA: TUJUAN PENGGUNAANNYA
8
 MANDARIN CORNER
9
 KENANGAN TATKALA RAMADHAN MENJELANG
 HIJABELLE
 EVENTS
10
11
12
A PUBLICATION OF THE LANGUAGE
DEPARTMENT OF UITM TERENGGANU
J UL Y - SE PT
2 012
LANGUAGE
bulletin
“TEAM BUILDING” 2012 SERIES 1 (Part 1)
By YEE LEONG YENG
66 staff from various fields and of different ages were chosen to attend a “Team Building” programme organized by the Training Unit of UiTM Terengganu, held from 12 July to 14 July 2012 at the Training Centre in Kampung Gajah, Perak. The journey took approximately 12 hours and though it was a long journey, I was thankful
to our drivers for our safe journey. What played in our mind about this programme varied from one another.
Prior to my departure, some claimed it as a nightmare. How far could this be true? Allow me to share it with
you.
T
his programme provided us a wide range of
activities specially designed to improve team
performance so as to meet the needs of our
organizations. It is pursued via a variety of
practices, range from simple bonding exercises to complex simulations to develop a team. My experience
taught me that “group” does not necessarily mean
“team” and it held true that when I was given a group
comprised of various backgrounds and professions, I
was left in doubt and confusion. We were asked to perform tasks and its focus is to bring out the best team to
ensure self and team development, positive communication, leadership skill and above all was the ability to work
closely together as a team in problem solving.
We started off with the first module “ice breaking” by dividing participants into 4 groups. Participants
with the same number would stick as a group, i.e. number 1 went to group one and so forth. The first outdoor
activity was “Taming the Tsunami”. The name of activity
intrigued our curiosity. It sounded spectacular. To our
surprise, a pail with some water, 4 ropes tied tightly to a
stretchable rubber straps, were given to each team. 4
strong but blind-folded guys from each group, stood at 4
corners, were given the task to grab hold and lift up the
pail of water after getting instructions from a team member who stood at the corner. Each team member required to pass correct instruction after receiving it from
the team leader. We had to make sure to grab tight of
our pail and maintain its stable state until we reach the
designated spot. If we failed, we had to start it all over
again. That was the most enjoyable, fun, hilarious moment. Later, a group of cheer leaders were created to
disturb instructions given by team leader and team
members by making lots of noise and causing a chaos.
I, as a team member, was emotionally disturbed and
acted unintentionally by kicking one of the cheer leaders
who shouted to give false instructions after my many
attempts failed. All of us were highly motivated with
excitement and team spirit. In other words, fun plays a
vital role in building a team, regardless of age and socio
background. To get us to change the way we work often
requires some “unfreezing”. Purposeful play or activity
gets people to relax and makes them willing to look at
their own short comings, be more objective and open to
changes and challenges as well. It makes us understand that a real team building is a process, not just an
event. Every attempt that we made, we were bound to
face challenges and if our attempt failed, we had to start
it all over! That was what called challenge after all! 
HOW TO...
Dear Friends,
I
t began with a usual resistance. I was
not that keen to be asked to travel
again and attend a-managerial-seriestalk. I assumed it was to be similar mind draining workshops I
used to go and made going. You see, it has been years that I have
been going to strategic planning workshops one after another and
not forgetting, all those quality improvement, audit, ISO courses
etc. So, on one fine weekend, it certainly didn't help that 5 of us,
(the chosen lucky ones), encountered massive jams at Karak
Highway on the night of Euro Cup Final. The supposedly 5-hour
journey by van turned to be 8 hours. Accommodation at Intekma
added to our despair with an unexplained spookiness. Me being
me, put those thoughts aside and slept like a baby.
The morning started with a lousy breakfast. I gritted my
teeth and prayed for a better day. Everything changed right immediately once we entered the seminar room. For no reason, a
sense of calmness enveloped me. The moment Dato’ Prof Sheikh
Omar Abd Rahman greeted us, I knew immediately this course
was going to rock my world. His talk was special because he
roped in his own heart-wrenching stories while growing up and
about real people around us. Everything gathered from the talk
was practical as he did not believe in attaining the unattainable.
Pak Sheikh (as he addressed himself) had polio since he
was little. He had to walk 3 miles every day to school and was
subjected to ridicule by school friends daily. He cried almost
every single day. One day, he could not take the bullying anymore and sobbed till he reached home. His mother’s wisdom
gave him a wake-up call. A housewife who had to resort to small
business at the local pasar, his mother, nevertheless, was a smart
woman. She asked him gently what’s wrong. (*all conversations
were in Kelantanese dialect). He explained while sobbing, that
he regrets his condition. His mom said, “Where did you feel the
pain, Omar?”. He said “My leg and my heart”. His mom smiled,
“But your mind is doing great despite all those. You scored the
first in every exam so far. Which do you prefer: a pain in your
leg which is not that critical, or a pain in your mind?” He said,
“Of course not a pain in my mind”. His mother said, “Those kids
who are bullying you, even though they do not have polio but
pretend to have one, obviously are sick in the mind. What number did they get?” He quickly felt better thinking that he was
definitely in a more advantageous situation as compared to the
bullies. From then onwards, he ignored them and did not let them
get what they wanted from him – conceding defeat. Tired of not
getting any responses, they finally left him alone. Pak Sheikh
later became the first person from Kampung Pintu Geng, Kelantan who went overseas to further his studies.
Pak Sheikh reminded me those who don’t matter, are not
important in our lives. We decide on our own successes and failures. There are always people who want to bring us down for
whatever reasons but we don’t have to let them achieve their
hideous goals. If we have the means and opportunities to excel,
even with some shortcomings, we CAN.
Your help may go
unnoticed, be
helpful anyway...
By Wan Nurul Firdaus Wan Mohd Naim & Wan Azrina Wan Azaman
Thinking of wearing your voile (Bawal) scarf in a
different style for this coming Eidul Fitri? Here are
some easy steps to help you getting a new look for
your Eidul. Don’t worry; you will still look decent yet
stylish on that day!

Place a scarf over
your head evenly
(same length for
both sides). By using a small brooch,
pin below the chin.
Love.
Roszainora
Advisor
[email protected]

Bring side B to the
back and pull the
inner side of side
A to the opposite
side.


Pin the inner side
of side A to your
dress (on the
shoulder) by using a small
Next, bring side B
to the front and
pull the inner side
to the opposite
side (above the
ear).

The Editors
T
he numerous articles we received for this issue have
proven that the lecturers of APB UiTMT are showing no
signs of slowing down. The fact that it’s Ramadhan makes
me even more awed by the sheer effort of all the contributors to sit and pen down their articles for this issue, despite
maybe feeling a bit more tired than usual. This time I will write
less to give way to our very first Language Bulletin Editors group
photo, specially for this Hari Raya Aidilfitri. On behalf of the Editorial Board, I would like to wish everyone a safe journey back to
wherever their destination is this holiday and Selamat Hari Raya
Aidilfitri, maaf zahir dan batin.
bulletin
EDITORIAL
LANGUAGE
Left to Right:
Shamshad Begham Othman, Norhayati Husin,
Aileen Farida Mohd Adam & Nor Ashikin Mohd Yusof
Patrons
Advisor
Editor & Layout
Sub-Editors
In-House Artist
By using a fancy
brooch, pin the
scarf (above the
ear).

To make it neater,
‘squeeze’ the extra
part of the voile under the chin.
Editor
[email protected]
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdol Samad bin Nawi , Assoc. Prof. Dr. Baharom Abdul Rahman
Roszainora Setia
Aileen Farida Mohd Adam
Nor Ashikin Mohd Yusof, Norhayati Husin, Shamshad Begham Othman
Amiza Mohamed Noor
Questions or Comments? Email them to [email protected]
2 Language Bulletin July—Sept 2012
aileen

Tadaaaa!!! There
you have it...Now
you look more stylish and presentable
to welcome your
guests during Eidul
Fitri..
Cara- cara kita bersyukur, menurut perspektif Islam (Oleh: Datuk Hassan Din Al-Hafiz)
Menurut para ulamak, ada 3 cara kita bersyukur:
1. dengan lidah: Setiap kali kita rasa bersyukur, kita menyebut 'alhamdulillah'
2. dengan perbuatan: Setiap kali kita rasa bersyukur, kita melakukan sujud syukur
3. menggunakan nikmat yg diberi di jalan yang benar: Cth: nikmat kekayaan digunakan untuk membantu orang-orang yang susah
Language Bulletin July – Sept 2012
11
KENANGAN TATKALA RAMADHAN MENJELANG
S
Hasil Nukilan NOR ASHIKIN MOHD YUSOF & NORKAMRUZITA SAADON
etiap kali Ramadhan semakin hampir, semakin
kuat ingatan kami terhadap pemergian ibu yang
tersayang, Khatijah binti Baba. Tanggal 2
Ramadhan 14xx, ibu yg tersayang telah dipanggil
menemui Ilahi. Yang paling tidak disangka, ibu meninggal
di dalam tidurnya. Dengan tenang, setenang air di Laut
China Selatan tatkala tiada angin yang melanda, ibu
menghembuskan nafasnya yang terakhir dan meninggalkan kami sekeluarga buat selama-lamanya.
Apabila dikenang kembali, beberapa bulan sebelum ibu pergi, ibu telah membuat suatu permintaan yang
pelik dan agak mengejutkan kami. Ibu meminta seutas
gelang tangan sebagai hadiah “Hari Ibu”... Kami agak
terkejut juga dengan permintaan ibu yang tersayang kerana selama ini, ibu tidak pernah meminta apa-apa pun
dari kami, apatah lagi meminta barang-barang kemas.
Tambahan lagi, “Hari Ibu” masih jauh lagi…namun, tanpa
mengesyaki apa-apa, kami bersetuju membelikan ibu seutas gelang buat hadiah “Hari Ibu”, namun niat itu tidak kesampaian.
Seperkara lagi, kedua ibu dan ayah nampak begitu
akrab beberapa bulan sebelum ibu pergi, seperti
sepasang kekasih yang seakan-akan tidak mahu
dipisahkan. Mereka banyak menghabiskan masa bersama
-sama...berbual2, membela pokok2 di luar bersama2.
Sungguh bahagia melihat mereka begitu romantik.…tidak
terfikir langsung di fikiran bahawa tidak lama lagi mereka
akan dipisahkan buat selama- lamanya.
Dua tiga hari sebelum Ramadhan, ayah mengalami
demam panas. Lantas, abang2 kami mengambil keputusan menghantar ayah ke hospital. Masih segar diingatan kami, sebelum ayah masuk ke kereta, kami ternampak
ibu sempat mencium tangan ayah dan memohon maaf
kepadanya...hiba hati kami ketika melihat peristiwa itu dan
bertambah hiba hati ini, ibarat dicarik- carik, apabila menyedari bahawa itulah detik perpisahan buat mereka berdua.
Ayah dimasukkan wad kerana demam panas dan
tidak lama selepas berada di dalam wad biasa, ayah diserang sakit jantung dan dimasukkan ke Unit Rawatan Rapi
(ICU)...ayah koma dan keadaannya kritikal! Hidup kami
adik-beradik berubah secara tiba-tiba...hospital menjadi
rumah kami kerana kami banyak menghabiskan masa di
hospital bersama- sama ayah kerana kami sangka kami
akan kehilangan ayah. Kesihatan ibu yang mengalami
kesukaran berjalan menghalang ibu untuk melawat ayah
ketika itu. Kami adik- beradik berjanji untuk membawa ibu
melawat ayah tatkala ayah telah sedar. Hanya doa yang
mampu ibu lakukan dan setiap hari, ibu menunggu kami
balik dari hospital,untuk bertanya khabar. Tentu ibu merindui ayah pada saat itu.
Ramadhan menjelang di dalam keadaan ayah sedang koma...Hari pertama di dalam bulan Ramadhan,
kami bergegas pulang ke rumah untuk berbuka bersama
ibu tapi Allah tidak mengizinkan. Abang-abang kami tiba
lewat di hospital untuk menggantikan giliran kami menjaga
ayah. Kerana kesesakan lalulintas, kami berbuka di dalam
kereta. Setibanya di rumah, kami bergegas untuk solat
10 Language Bulletin July—Sept 2012
maghrib. Kebiasaannya, ibu akan menunggu untuk ditemani ke bilik air tapi pada hari itu, kami terkejut melihat ibu
ke bilik air tanpa ditemani, dan lebih memeranjatkan, ibu
ke bilik air tanpa menggunakan tongkat! Ibu seperti teruja
untuk mengerjakan ibadah tarawikh. Senyuman manis
dilemparkan kepada kami tatkala ibu keluar dari bilik air
tanpa menggunakan tongkat. MasyaAllah, apakah ini kelebihan Ramadhan? Tercetus persoalan ini di dalam fikiran
kami. Namun, kami bersyukur ibu beransur sihat dikala
ayah sedang koma.
Sebelum ibu tidur, kami sempat berbual seketika
dengannya. Ibu sempat meminta maaf kerana baginya,
dia banyak menyusahkan kami. Agak hiba hati ini kerana
seorang ibu meminta maaf kepada anak-anaknya walhal
begitu besar jasa yang telah dicurahkan, namun, kami
tidak menyedari bahawa itulah saat terakhir kami bersama
ibu yang tersayang. Ibu juga mengingatkan supaya rajin
membaca A-lQuran dan mengerjakan solat sunat, terutamanya solat Dhuha. Itulah amanatnya yang terakhir.
Pukul 2.30 pagi, 2 Ramadhan 14xx,kami dikejutkan
oleh abang-abang yang baru pulang dari hospital. Salah
seorang dari abang kami terperasan pernafasan ibu
seperti tersekat-sekat, lalu dia cuba mengejutkan ibu
tetapi gagal! Puas dia memanggil ibu tapi ibu tidak tidak
langsung membuka matanya. Panik dengan apa yang
berlaku, seluruh isi rumah dikejutkan. Ambulan juga telah
dipanggil dan sambil menunggu kedatangannya, kami
mengucapkan kalimah syahadah ke telinga ibu...ibu tidak
sedarkan diri..matanya tidak dibuka, walaupun kami adikberadik memanggil-manggilnya, Hanya bibirnya mengukir
sebuah senyuman yang manis...Tidak lama kemudian,
kami menyaksikan ibu menghembuskan nafasnya yang
terakhir dengan tenang dan tersenyum....kami sedar tatkala itu, ibu telah dipanggil untuk menemui Allah Yang
Maha Esa.
Tiada kata- kata akhir sempat diucapkan, tidak
sempat kami mendengar suara ibu yang lemah lembut...tiada sempat kami bertentang mata buat kali terakhir...ibu pergi tanpa diduga, ibu pergi tatkala ayah sedang
koma, namun, kami bersyukur ibu dijemput menemui Allah
Yang Maha Pengasih dan Penyayang ketika di bulan
Ramadhan yang mulia.
Sudah bertahun ibu pergi, namun peristiwa itu masih segar diingatan, terutama tatkala Ramadhan menjelang tiba. Ibu Khatijah binti Baba adalah seorang wanita
yang sentiasa sabar dan bercakap dengan lemah lembut,
namun seorang yang tegas di dalam mendidik anakanaknya. Tidak pernah kami dengar ibu meninggikan
suara ketika bercakap dengan ayah, walaupun terdapat
percanggahan pendapat di antara mereka. Bibirnya sentiasa dibasahi dengan zikrullah, masa lapangnya dipenuhi
dengan bacaan Al-Quran dan buku-buku ilmiah, solat
Dhuha serta puasa sunat menjadi amalannya walaupun
kesihatannya mudah sahaja menjadi penghalang. Semoga cerita ini menjadi iktibar buat kaum Hawa. Semoga
amalan kita membantu kita menemui Allah dengan mudah...Al-Fatihah buat ibu yang tersayang! ■
OBE
Kekurangan itu Kelebihan
Oleh ROSZAINORA SETIA & HARNIZA ABD RAZAK
A
dalah tidak dinafikan, setiap sistem baru yang
diperkenalkan pasti ada kelemahan yang wujud.
Namun begitu, kelemahan yang timbul bukanlah
menjadi suatu isu yang besar kerana sentiasa ada
ruang untuk penambahbaikan dijalankan. Kelemahan- kelemahan yang ada juga boleh di atasi sekiranya fokus yang
lebih diberikan kepada kelebihan- kelebihan yang diperolehi
daripada sistem tersebut. Memandangkan sistem pengajaran
dan pembelajaran berasaskan OBE ini melibatkan dua pihak
yang dominan iaitu pensyarah dan pelajar, maka kelebihan
dan kekurangan sistem tersebut lebih terarah kepada keduadua pihak yang terbabit.
1.0 Pensyarah
Bagi tenaga pengajar, kesulitan yang timbul adalah
menjadi satu perkara biasa bagi mereka setiap kali berurusan dengan sesuatu perkara yang baru pada peringkat permulaannya. Perkara sebegini terjadi mungkin kerana
kurangnya penguasaan atau ceteknya pengetahuan dalam
penggunaan sistem tersebut. Perkara sebeginilah yang terjadi semasa OBE ini mula-mula dilaksanakan di UiTM. Ada di
kalangan pensyarah yang panik kerana tidak diberikan
pendedahan yang meluas sebelum perlaksanaan. Secara tidak langsung ia dapat member kesan yang negatif kepada
kejayaan perlaksanaan sistem tersebut.
Masalah ini sangat jelas dikalangan para pensyarah
sambilan yang terdiri dari orang luar. Mereka tidak berada di
dalam sistem jadi proses kawalan, latihan, mahupun pendedahan sukar untuk dilaksanakan. Masalah yang kerap diutarakan oleh para pensyarah adalah tentang kepayahan
mengisi data, cerewet untuk dibuat, ada juga yang berhujah
ianya tidak berkesan atas alasan entrance serta exit survey
yang diisi oleh pelajar tidak menggambarkan potensi sebenar pelajar terbabit.
Pada peringkat awal pelaksanaannya, para pensyarah di
Dungun contohnya menghadapi kesukaran kerana terpaksa
menyediakan soalan E&E sendiri untuk proses penilaian dan
dokumentasi. Setelah dilaksanakan, mereka menerima soalan E&E yang lain serta arahan berbeza. Selain dari itu, para
AJK OBE di cawangan juga menghadapi kesukaran dari segi
penerimaan maklumat dan perkembangan terkini mahupun
keseragaman pelaksanaan dari induk yang menyebabkan
ada ketikanya mereka sendiri dalam kekeliruan untuk menjelaskan kepada pensyarah yang terlibat.
Namun begitu, setiap halangan yang berlaku bukanlah
noktah untuk terus mencapai misi dan objektif yang telah
ditetapkan kerana setiap kekurangan yang timbul pasti ada
cara penyelesaiannya. Di sebalik kelemahan perlaksanaan
OBE ini dari segi pendedahan dan penguasaan, dalam jangka
masa yang panjang ia dipercayai dapat menyumbangkan
sesuatu yang bermakna dalam bidang pendidikan kerana
misinya adalah untuk melahirkan graduan yang berkemahiran tinggi. Oleh itu peranan pensyarah adalah amat diperlukan dalam memastikan objektif ini tercapai. Secara tidak
langsung, pensyarah juga dapat mengambil manafaat daripada sistem yang dijalankan untuk mengukur sejauh manakah berkesannya sistem penyampaian dan kaedah pengajaran yang dijalankan.
Sehingga kini, banyak penambahbaikan yang dijalankan kesan daripada kelemahan- kelemahan yang dialami sepanjang melaksanakan kaedah OBE ini. Rungutanrungutan sudah semakin kurang kedengaran kerana masingmasing telah berpengalaman dan terbiasa dengan sistem
yang dijalankan. Malah ada yang menyatakan sistem ini begitu menguji kesabaran mereka tapi pada masa yang sama
banyak perkara yang dipelajari. Di antaranya, mereka perlu
menjadi insan yang celik IT dan turut menjadi pendidik yang
sentiasa memantau keberkesanan sistem pengajaran dan
juga pembelajaran masing- masing.
2.0 Pelajar
Bagi para pelajar pula, pada pertama kali diperkenalkan dengan sistem ini, terdapat pelbagai reaksi negatif yang
diterima memandangkan bagi mereka sistem ini amat mebebankan kerana mereka perlu memperuntukkan sejumlah
masa untuk meneliti soalan E&E serta mengisinya. Pada
masa yang sama proses pembelajaran kendiri walaupun tidaklah janggal namun ianya agak membebankan kerana pelajar perlu sentiasa peka dengan keperluan terkini dan kemudahan internet, makmal sangat dibutuhkan untuk tujuan
tersebut apatah lagi dengan adanya kuiz dalam talian untuk
kebanyakkan kursus. Contoh yang nyata adalah I-Learn.
Pada peringkat permulaan perlaksanaan, terdapat
beberapa kampus cawangan yang mempunyai server tambahan yang berbeza dengan induk di mana masalah ini menyebabkan pelbagai implikasi negatif. Ada juga pelajar yang
membuat penilaian entrance tetapi tidak membuat penilaian
exit. Ini boleh menyebabkan kebuntuan analisa serta data
yang dikumpul menjadi tidak lengkap.
Namun begitu, segala masalah yang timbul dan sukar
akhirnya dapat diatasi setelah dirujuk kepada yang pakar.
Secara berperingkat, segala kekurangan yang ada dilihat berjaya di tangani oleh pihak- pihak yang bertanggungjawab
walau pun masih banyak lagi perkara yang perlu diambil
kira secara terperinci. Secara jelasnya, sesuatu sistem yang
baru pastinya memerlukan lebih masa untuk diterima secara
telus oleh pelbagai pihak. Para pelajar secara khususnya
turut mendapat manafaat dari segi perlaksanaan sistem ini.
Mereka tidak lagi boleh menjadi manusia yang culas malah
turut bertanggungjawab ke atas proses pembelajaran
masing- masing di mana mereka tidak boleh lagi bergantung
sepenuhnya kepada pensyarah.
Jelaslah di sini bahawasanya kita tidak perlu mudah
melenting apabila menerima satu sistem baru untuk diterima pakai sebelum betul- betul memahami apakah matlamat
jangka panjang sesuatu sistem tersebut. Terimalah kelemahan pada peringkat permulaan perlaksanaan sebagai
perkara lumrah dan cabaran kerana lambat laun, dengan
penambahbaikan yang dibuat, sistem tersebut pastinya mencapai kejayaan. ■
Language Bulletin July—Sept 2012
3
华语角落 | MANDARIN CORNER
BODY LANGUAGE: ARE ALL THINGS WHAT THEY SEEM TO BE?
An Out-of-Sight Meaning Beneath Students’ Non-Verbal Cues
H
By NUR SYIKRI BIN HARUN & FATHIYAH BINTI ISMAL
ave you ever watched American Idol on televi- dents are in a receiving mood or not. They may be able to
sion? Did you notice when a top contestant who spot contradictions between what students say and what
performed incredibly has been lively compli- they actually mean. Just imagine that all these non-verbal
mented by the three judges with standing ap- cues, if understandable, are very beneficial especially to
plause? What does that mean? Do you still remember assist lecturers to control their students during class, or at
Charlie Caplin, the silent-movie actor acting without ver- least prevent them from committing unethical deeds in exbally communicating to the audience? Can you still under- aminations, tests and quizzes.
stand what did his amusing movie deliver in spite of his non
Becoming sensitive and aware to the signals of
-verbal aspect of acting? Or have you ever seen your stu- body language can aid us to communicate more effectively
dent shrugged his/her shoulders when you ask question with students. In fact, we can garner a lot to measure the
which he/she did not manage to answer? Actually, these truthfulness and transparency of students from simple obare all examples of the non-verbal cues, which occur subtly servation as body language never lies! Unbelievably, we
and unconsciously, called body language!
can understand what students are saying even when they
Basically, how you present yourself says A LOT are not talking. We can also sense when students are sinaturally! This is because the words we speak actually ac- lent and digesting information, or when they are silent and
count for less than the remaining messages produced by confused with the lesson (Maybe the lesson is not confushumans’ body, which is a non-verbal
ing! Probably we are!). However, we are
channel from head to toe. In other
merely interested to focus on non-verbal
words, body language is a MASSIVE
cues which we regularly witness daily in
DRY TONGUE that expresses the acclass rather than any universal types of
tual meaning of humans’ emotions! It
non-verbal behaviours in general.
has been scientifically proven through
Hereby, we list down the non-verbal
studies that people interact with others
cues which help show students’ interest
and convey messages by using 55%
level, and whether they are paying atbody language, 38% vocal (including
tention to their lecturer or not:
tone, intonation, inflection, and speech
rate), and only 7% through words. This
1. Facial Expressions
is because our brain is naturally proFace is the index of mind. That is begrammed to express emotions through
cause human face is extremely expresthe appropriate channel as predetersive and widely open for interpretation,
mined by our Creator, the All-Wise, the
and is able to express and convey
All-Omnipotent.
countless emotions without saying even
There is a bunch of experts
a single word. According to body lanwho can detect the messages of spoguage experts, this is one of the most
ken words which are contradictory to
obvious body language signals that are
body language. Many social anthromostly comprehended by any normal
pologists, psychologists, and body lanhuman beings. Say, if you notice that
guage experts who use their expertise
there are students raising their eyeprofessionally have incorporated these
brows or having their eyes dilated when
Image via www.nosweatpublicspeaking.com/
findings into the interrogation techyou are teaching, it actually shows their
niques used by police to unveil lies,
agreement that you have made an infake statements, and deceptions while interrogating crimi- teresting point and conclusive explanation, as well as they
nals and suspects, reveal the truth about scandals (for in- are feeling very interested and pleased with your informastance, the Lewinsky scandal, David Wu scandal and a tion. In another situation, say, there is a student who does
lengthy list of White House scandals), and unveil truthful- not submit the assignment. If you ask him/her to justify why
ness and transparency of people. The ability of decoding he/she does not submit the assignment, do not forget to
secret messages passing silently from person to person look at his/her face firmly. This is because, if your student
not only enables some people like salesmen and brokers to gives a split-second frown before he/she answers and
convince their customers and prospective clients, it also touches his/her nose, then, it is his/her attempt to tell you
helps even a poker player to anticipate cards at poker table lies!
and defeat his contenders.
2. Hand-to-Face Gesture
Can you imagine what we can do if we have ability With a combination between face and hand gesture, it may
to read people’s body language? It is almost magic! By naturally deliver a particular message. Say, you find a stuknowing how to read body language, parents can under- dent who comes late to class giving a reason why he/she
stand their children well. Salesmen can understand their comes late whilst his/her hand is brought to his/her mouth
customers’ needs. Bosses in offices can understand their (especially his/her index finger) and rubs it lightly around it,
subordinates or employees whether they are working genu- he/she is actually telling lies. The same result happens
inely or not. Lecturers can understand whether their stu- when he/she covers his/her mouth with hand or rubs/
4 Language Bulletin July—Sept 2012
My experience part 4
By YEE LEONG YENG
How fast can I pick up Mandarin language? Can I speak Mandarin after a semester? Is Mandarin an easy language to
learn? These are the common questions I faced with every
time I start a new class. It can be a difficult task, unless you
know how. There are a few steps you can start with.
Step 1: Always start with something small. Do not push yourself beyond your capabilities. I would usually ask the students
to start with 5 common greetings. For examples, ni hao, ni hao
ma? Zaoshang hao, xiawu hao, wanshang hao. The common
greetings can be confusing if you lack practice. The answer to
each greeting varies, so do not rush to memorize it.
Step 2: Do not be too harsh on yourself. Learning any language is a gradual process. You have to have patience and
endurance to acquire the skill and knowledge of Mandarin language. Do not believe in short cuts. Mr. Lee Kuan Yew of the
Republic of Singapore took more than 10 years to master Mandarin and he is still learning! Normally it takes about 6-7 years
to be able to read and write well.
Step 3: Practice and practice, these are what good learners
would adopt. The saying practice makes perfect, holds true in
learning Mandarin. From time to time, I always encourage students to go to a Chinese shop and greet the shopkeepers. I am
sure they are delighted to greet you in return, provided they
speak Mandarin. It can be embarrassing when they do not
speak the language. A student of mine who completed Mandarin level one, went to work with a Chinese lady during the semester break and came back speaking Mandarin more fluently.
Step 4: Explore your interest. Do you like watching Chinese
movies, dramas or listening to Chinese songs? The more frequent you watch, more phrases you will pick up unconsciously.
I once had a male student who was a quiet and shy boy. One
Ramadhan Bazaar
By RAZIFA MOHD RAZLAN
day immediately after my class, he came close to me and to
my surprise, he presented a Chinese song to me. I was truly
amazed with his talent after hearing his song. He really caught
me by surprise, he learnt it without knowing the meanings of
the song!
Step 5: Discover your own way of self-learning. Different learners have different ways of learning. Do not stop trying if your
attempt fails. If self teaching fails, get help from peers or your
teacher. You can go online to chat with your friends.
Step 6: Positive attitude is the key to success. If you adopt
positive attitude as a way of learning a language, it will bring
constructive changes to your mind and enhances your learning
process. Students with the positive attitude excel better than
those with negative attitude. It is all a state of mind. A person
with a positive attitude certainly sees the bright side of life, becomes optimistic and motivates himself to accomplish his
goal.
Step 7: Rewrite new phrases. Rewriting every phrase or word
is an important part of mastering Chinese characters. Learning
Chinese characters is not an easy task, it requires time and
patience. The Chinese character is an ideographic writing system, in which its graphic structure is directly related to the
meaning, but most of the times it has little relation to the sound
of a word. Hence, understanding the composition of Chinese
characters and rewriting them repeatedly will gear you to success.
Learning Mandarin language might not be that difficult if you
start it with the right step. Any route to success can never be
easy and can never be yours if you do not make the first move.
Positive attitude energizes positive energy to your mind and
thus it speeds up your learning power as well. ■
Ceritera Anak Md. Noor
By AMIZA MD. NOOR
“Kuih, kuih, kuih”,
Far from the stalls I could hear the sound,
Once I walked nearer,
The sound became louder and louder,
The sellers never dare to keep quiet,
As to catch great buyers were their targets.
“Kuih, kuih, kuih”,
When I walked around,
I can see you being displayed everywhere,
Your looks were very tempting and appealing.
“Kuih, kuih, kuih”,
Your various looks made me mad,
I couldn’t ask myself to buy all,
I took Nekbat and put back Lompat Tikam,
I took Badak Berendam and put back Cek Mek Molek,
Finally I took Koleh Kacang, followed by Onde-onde and
Asam Gumpal.
“Kuih, kuih, kuih”,
The sound became softer and softer,
As I left the stalls,
I never ask myself to turn back,
Eventually with a contented smile,
I was on my way back.
Puasa tidak bermakna sekadar menahan haus dan lapar. Rasulullah
s.a.w. bersabda: Barangsiapa yang tidak meninggalkan perkataan buruk
dan perbuatannya tatkala berpuasa, maka tiada hajat Allah baginya
(kerana pahala akan terhapus) walaupun meninggalkan makanan dan
minumannya (riwayat Al-Bukhari).
Language Bulletin July—Sept 2012
9
BAHASA MELAYU
BAHASA SLANGA:
APAKAH TUJUAN PENGGUNAANNYA?
Oleh DR. GHANI BIN ISMAIL
B
ahasa mempunyai hubungan yang akrab dengan
kebudayaan. Sesuatu yang berlaku dalam budaya sesebuah masyarakat tergambar melalui
penggunaan bahasanya. Justeru, bahasa merupakan wahana penting dalam komunikasi manusia bagi menyampaikan buah fikiran, perasaan dan hasrat, termasuk juga
bahasa slanga.
Apakah yang dimaksudkan dengan bahasa slanga?
Menurut The Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang,
slanga didefinisikan sebagai …the special vocabulary of
low, illiterate or disreputable person, low, illiterate language. Manakala Longman Dictionary of Contemporary
English New Edition (1990:984) menjelaskan maksud
slanga sebagai …being informal language that includes
new and sometimes not polite words and meanings, is
often used among particular group of people, not used in
serious speech or writing. Harman dan Stork (1973:218)
mengatakan slanga sebagai satu variasi ujaran yang bercirikan kosa kata baru yang dicipta dan sentiasa berubah,
digunakan oleh golongan muda untuk berkomunikasi
sesama sendiri. Pei dan Gaynor (1968:199) mendefinisikan slanga sebagai bahasa yang dibentuk melalui penyesuaian popular serta bercirikan perluasan makna dengan
membentuk perkataan baharu tanpa mengambil kira nilai
akademik serta prinsip linguistiknya. Malah, Nik Safiah
Karim, 1981:121) menganggap slanga sebagai bahasa
terhad (restricted language) kerana mempunyai ciri-ciri
tertentu dan hanya difahami oleh golongan tertentu.
Rumusannya, bahasa slanga boleh dikategorikan
sebagai salah satu bentuk gaya bahasa pertuturan yang
biasanya digunakan oleh kumpulan atau kelompok tertentu melalui penyesuaian popular dan perluasan makna
kata sedia ada atau mengubah suai makna bagi memenuhi
keperluan tertentu.
Menurut Mhd. Amin Arshad (2000), terdapat lima
belas sebab wujudnya penggunaan bahasa slanga, iaitu:
a. Untuk tujuan hiburan (suka-suka).
b. Sebagai latihan untuk menguji kecerdasan, kemahiran atau kebolehan untuk menimbulkan suasana
8 Language Bulletin July—Sept 2012
jenaka.
c. Untuk menonjol diri sebagai perintis.
d. Untuk memperindah pertuturan dan mewarnakan
suasana supaya menjadi lebih mesran dan hidup.
e. Untuk menarik perhatian orang lain.
f. Untuk mengelakkan ‘klise’ atau tujuan penyingkatan tanpa menjejaskan makna.
g. Untuk mengayakan bahasa.
h. Untuk merumitkan sesuatu yang konkrit kepada
yang abstrak, sesuatu yang bersifat jelas kepada
yang samar-samar.
i. Untuk mengurangkan suasana sugul dan kerisauan
dalam perbualan.
j. Untuk menenangkan suasana sedih dan serius.
k. Untuk tujuan bergurau senda.
l. Untuk melicinkan perhubungan sosial.
m. Untuk mengakrabkan lagi persahabatan yang sedia
terjalin.
n. Untuk menunjukkan bahawa seseorang itu terdiri
daripada satu aliran atau golongan kelas sosial yang
sama.
o. Untuk merahsiakan sesuatu agar orang lain tidak
memahaminya.
Demikianlah serba sedikit maklumat awal tentang
bahasa slanga untuk pengetahuan kita. Kemajuan
teknologi komunikasi global di alam maya menyebabkan
bahasa slanga juga berkembang mengikut acuannya
tersendiri, yang menyumbang kerisauan dalam kalangan
ahli-ahli bahasa, para guru dan pensyarah terhadap isu
pencemaran bahasa yang telah dan akan wujud tanpa kesudahan. Walaupun bahasa slanga ini bersifat sementara,
namun pengaruh bahasa tersebut dalam kalangan para
remaja, termasuk mahasiswa juga perlu diberikan perhatian agar penggunaannya tidak merosakkan bahasa
standard yang sedia ada. ■
Rujukan:
Mhd. Amin Arshad (2000). Bahasa Slanga: Pembentukan dan Ciri-Cirinya. Dalam Monograf Bahasa,
Sastera, dan Budaya Melayu. Serdang, Selangor:
UPM
Nik Safiah Karim (1981). Beberapa Persoalan Sosiolinguistik Bahasa Melayu. Kuala Lumpur: DBP
Patridge, E. (1970). Slang To-Day and Yesterday. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Hartman dan Stork (1973). Dictionary of Language and
Linguistics. London: Applied Science Pub. Ltd.
Pei dan Gaynor (1968). A Dictionary of Linguistics. London: Peter Owen.
touches his/her itchy nose. Sometimes, nose-touching gesture implies that he/she is doubt with you. However, when a
student places his/her hand to his/her cheek, he/she is
evaluating and thinking what you have taught/said. Meanwhile, students who are frowning their forehead (until their
four-layer frown lines appear obviously!) show that they
cannot get what your idea is when you teach. On the other
hand, the student who tells lies will usually pull his/her collar
and starts to rub his/her eyes subtly or even vigorously to
block out the deceit or doubt. It is done just to avoid looking
at the face of the person who is being lied to! The next hand
-to-face gesture is ear grab which is used by a student who
is experiencing anxiety. When he/she scratches his/her
neck, this signals doubt or uncertainty as if he/she says:
“I’m not so sure!”
3. Body Posture
This is the common body language posed by students when
they get bored with class. Look at their body posture: Are
they slouched over the desk? If so, they are actually in a
realm between consciousness and unconsciousness, daydreaming and thinking somewhere outside the classroom.
For them, the clock is ticking too slow! This is a basic indicator of sense of boredom. Normally, a student who is paying attention will usually be sitting up ergonomically correct.
Thus, if you find a student who is slouching over the desk
and supporting his/her head with hand, that denotes either
he/she is showing no interest to learn (or probably is bored
to death!) or your lesson is really boring and dull!
4. Position
Sometimes, the leg position exposes what the mind
wants to do. Say if you see your student tapping his/her
foot against the floor (or his/her finger against the desk),
this indicates that he/she may be bored or impatient with
the lecture, presentation, or any in-class activities. The
faster the tapping, the higher the level of boredom. Likewise, a student who is sitting with his/her legs crossed or
has his/her foot kicking slightly shows that he/she is
showing closed attitudes, uncertainty, and boredom. Conversely, if the student places his/her legs firmly on the
floor, it indicates that he/she is focusing on what you are
delivering in class.
revive a bored class. One of them is to pick on the student
whose body language is most bored; the student who
slouched at the back with his/her eyes closed and his/her
chin poled/supported with one hand on the desk. Try to mirror his/her body language and slouch just like what he/she
does. This not only will instantly wake him/her up and laugh,
but the rest of the students will also do.
The next thing to consider is the speed rate of your
speech. Some people speak fast whether it is because they
are really fluent and proficient (they are called
‘motormouths’) in a particular language, or they are being
stressed or excited. Yet, in fact, speaking too quickly is one
of the most common speech problems. Thus, never speak
at a faster rate than your students. Studies reveal that people describe feeling ‘pressured’ when someone speaks
more quickly than they do. You may hear someone will beg
your pardon to repeat what you have said as he/she did not
understand or could not get what you were talking about
because your rate speed of speech is very rapid just like F5
hurricane! A person’s speed of speech shows the rate at
which their brain can consciously analyze information. The
trick to speaking at an appropriate pace is remembering that
you need to speak at a rate that allows your listener to understand what you are saying. Do speak at the same rate or
slightly slower than your students and try to mirror their inflection and intonation.
On top of that, you should meet the needs of the
right-brained and left-brained students including their learning styles, strategies, approaches and methods. This is because the way the right-brained students learn is greatly
different from that of the left-brained ones. The right-brained
students normally think and learn in visual, kinesthetic
(hands-on activities), audio images, and prefer to work in
groups to help them understand the subject matter. Meanwhile, the left-brained students prefer lecture, discussion,
and problem-solution activities, favour writing and research,
and prefer to work alone. Hence, as the lecturers, we need
to meet their different needs by improvising our teaching
style which merges those different learning styles, approaches and methods according to different cognitive style
of right-/left-brained students. Hence, by gathering and applying all these, the lecturers will be able to execute their
instruction effectively and meet students’ satisfaction as
anticipated.
All in all, it is important to know that learning body
language helps us to understand students better and basing
on their real moods and mental state wisely. However, it is
not a good ethic spending too much time looking at students
and analyzing their body language. The most important
thing is: Do not judge a person solely by their body language as some people may seem to show constantly some
particular patterns of non-verbal cues because it has just
become their habit. Try to avoid misunderstandings by mistakenly interpreting these false signals. Nonetheless, by
having knowledge and skills in body language, it is an exciting experience to know exactly what the meanings are beneath students’ non-verbal signals and behaviours when
encountering with them.
5. Mirroring
This is another body language signal which is a positive
gesture. Students who project this non-verbal cues by mirroring and mimicking spontaneously (not imitating him/her
for teasing sarcastically!) your action and appearance such
as eyebrow-raising, nostril-flaring, wearing the same outfit,
and projecting leg-positioning simultaneously similar show
that they are in agreement with you in terms of your ideas
and attitudes. This sort of body language also implies that
they (the students and the lecturer – you yourself!) are
thinking alike. This also denotes that they (both parties)
have mutual respect. This is a very genuine signal that they
are interested in you and paying attention to you. If you are
not yet convinced, try to change your body position here
and there. If you find that they change theirs equally, they
are actually mirroring (This is what we want to see!).
Do not forget this too:
This is actually a two-way communication as not only you
Nevertheless, it is still not satisfactory if you are just able to can ‘read’ your students, but you also will be judged largely
predict the emotions of your bored/excited students by ana- by your facial expressions and gestures while you talk and
lysing their body language. There are some worthy tips to communicate with them! ■
Language Bulletin July—Sept 2012
5
ANGLOPHONE WRITINGS REMAIN PERIPHERAL DUE TO
A LACK OF AUDIENCE: A COMMENTARY
By MAZNI MUSLIM & SHAMSHAD BEGHAM OTHMAN
Introduction
The world has become a global village with the phenomenal spread of English around the globe particularly since World War II. This development has well
been described by J. R. Rickford:
The sun sets regularly on the Union Jack these days, but never on
the English language. It was
spread by British colonists, got a
boost from American GI’s, and it
was cemented by the multinational corporation. Today, like it or
curse it, English is the closest thing
to a lingua franca around the
globe. (Zach, 1991: 3)
It is also interesting to know that this development of English into the world’s major international
language today has gone hand in hand with a rise in
the importance of those Anglophone literary works
that have flourished outside of Britain since the transplantation of English into the British colonies. In the
past few decades, the former British Empire of Africa,
India and Asia saw the emergence of some of the most
remarkable writers in English like Chinua Achebe, Wole
Soyinka, Rabindranath Tagore, R. K. Narayan and a host
of others. These writers are not the native speakers of
the language, and thus, Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin
(1989) as cited in Oyegoke (1996: 35), create the interesting template of English/english to distinguish between the English used by the imperial centre and varieties of localised English used at the postcolonial margins. Thus, the Standard British English of the former
imperial power will have a capital “E”, while the other
English varieties used throughout the world will have a
small “e”.
This paper is not going to study the question of
whether the English language being used is a ‘standard’
or ‘nativised’ dialect but it is going to investigate the
audience’s poor reception of Anglophone writings. The
lack of audience and readership certainly contributes
to the marginalised position of literatures in English.
This troubling phenomenon goes hand in hand with the
status of English and its literature in postcolonial situations. Not only that, the question of publishing consti6 Language Bulletin July—Sept 2012
tutes the aspect of poor readership and marginalisation of Anglophone literary products in many nonAnglophone countries around the world. These major
issues will henceforth be discussed further in the paper.
The Position of Anglophone Writers in Postcolonial
Situations
The postcolonial Anglophone writers are harshly
criticised. They are labelled as “‘anti-patriotic’ to continue using an imposed colonial language” (Durant &
Fabb, 1990: 200). In addition, they are accused of
“having lost touch with their roots” (Hussein, 1991:
102). The writers are also accused of “elitism because
they are held to address only that tiny segment of the
population that understands English; and of sectionalism because this attitude implies segregation from the
collective” (Hussein, 1991: 102). In order to discuss this
problem in detail, this paper will look into the position
of English in some postcolonial countries namely Malaysia, Africa, India, and the Philippines as specific studies.
Malaysia
In the Malaysian context, critics have been particularly vocal in their criticism of the Anglophone writers and their works. Prejudice and “hostile attitudes
toward Anglophone writings” exist in the country for
years (Nor Faridah & Quayum, 2001: 7). For example,
Professor Ismail Hussein criticizes the Anglophone writers as he “argues in favour of the national literature
written in Malay” (Nor Faridah & Quayum, 2001: 5).
The position of Malay language is described by Joyce
Moy (1993) in Asia Magazine:
Bahasa Malaysia was strictly enforced and promoted as a tool to
unify the different races after the
race riots of May 13, 1969 as the
government felt that one of the
major problems affecting Malaysian society was a lack of clear national identity. (p. 12)
Thus, from 1970 onwards, Bahasa Malaysia gains its
special status.
Anglophone writing in Malaysia is being marginalised due to various obvious reasons. Firstly, even
though the government endorsed the position of English as the second language but consequently, language
went into decline in the 70s, 80s and even 90s because
of the status, use and promotion of Malay as the official and national language. The government also regarded Malaysian Anglophone writings as “sectional
literature” (Govindasamy, 1996: 356). Secondly, the
lack of public reading is partly to be blamed because it
is not the language being used by the general masses.
According to Asmah Omar (1992) as cited in Nor Faridah and Quayum (2001: 3), the language in fact belonged to “the ruling and privileged circles” and educated class. Thirdly, English literacy rate is low and the
reading culture does not exist in the country. Malaysians are just too busy building the nation’s growth and
development toward achieving Vision 2020 to the extent of not having quality time even to read. Some of
them are just not interested in reading. In fact, on the
average, Malaysians read only two books a year.
as the Raslan brothers, Amir Muhammad, Dina Zaman,
the Rhino Press writers and the Silverfishbooks writers
who are only known to a certain group of people. This
tragic reality is inter-related to the government’s interest in promoting the Malay literary writers. Cash rewards, awards and prestige recognitions – the National
Laureate – are bestowed upon them. Because of these,
writers and critics in English complain of being marginalised and abandoned. The position of Anglophone
writings in Malaysia has been realistically summed up
by Nor Faridah & Quayum (2001). Quote:
The marginalisation of Anglophone Malaysian literature is because of the tension between the
advocacy of Malay as the national
language and the usefulness of
English as an international language which nevertheless carries a
colonialist legacy. (p. 10)
To be contd....
References
Malaysians are just too busy
building the nation’s growth
and development toward
achieving Vision 2020 to the
extent of not having quality
time even to read.
Another reason is the problem faced by the Anglophone writers in terms of publishing, promoting and
marketing strategy. Although we are proud to have, for
instance, “Muhammad Haji Salleh who translated his
own work into English and published the work of his
noted Malay poet-contemporaries; Salleh Ben Joned
who published a selection of his original poems in Malay and English in a bilingual edition; and Adibah Amin’s
articulate and witty essays” but many other writers
remain unknown; their works are not widely promoted
(Hussein, 1991: 102-104). There are other names such
Zach, W. (1991). The study of ‘new literatures in English’ at university level: Current problems and
trends. In M. Chan & R. Harris (Eds.), Asian voices
in English. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University
Press.
Oyegoke, L. (1996). Problems, parallax and solutions in
the theory and criticism of African literature. New
Literatures Review, 28/29, 35-39.
Durant, A., & Fabb, N. (Eds.). (1990). From your study
into the world. In Literary studies in action. London: Routledge.
Hussein, A. (1991). The echoing of quiet voices. In M.
Chan & R. Harris (Eds.), Asian voices in English.
Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Nor Faridah Abdul Manaf & Quayum, M. A. (2001). Colonial to Global: Malaysian Women’s Writing in
English (1940s-1990s). Kuala Lumpur: IIUM Press.
Govindasamy, S. (1996). Ethnocentricity in postcolonial Malaysian literary works: Extent of unity
in diversity. In Fadilah Merican et. al. (Eds.), A view
of our own: Ethnocentric perspectives in literature.
Kuala Lumpur: Fakulti Pengajian Bahasa UKM.
Aisha (RA) said:
I asked the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam): ’O Messenger of Allah, if I know what night is the night of Qadr, what should I
say during it?’ He said Say: ”Allahumma innaka ‘afuwwun tuhibbul ‘afwa fa’fu ‘annee
Trans: ‘Say: O Allah, You are pardoning & You love to pardon, so pardon me.’ “ (Ahmad, Ibn Majah, & Tirmidhi).
Language Bulletin July—Sept 2012
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