language - Terengganu

 TEAM BUILDING SERIES PART 2
3
I S SU E 7
INSIDE:
 SUPERMAN GRAMMAR LEARNING STRATEGIES 4
 MANDARIN CORNER
5
 BAHASA ARAB
6&7
 JAUH PERJALANAN LUAS PANDANGAN
7
 ANGLOPHONE WRITING PART II
8&9
 QUILL YOUR WAY
9
 A HYBRID STORY & PRINCE CHARMING
10 & 11

12
EVENTS
A PUBLICATION OF THE LANGUAGE
DEPARTMENT OF UITM TERENGGANU
You’re not boring, you’re bored;
Get your English right!
By NUR SYAZWANI HALIM &
FIRHANA NUR MOHMED HUSSIN
Start
1
bulletin
Communicating in English has never been easy, especially for
those whose first language isn’t English. Some non-native
speakers speak or write words that sound or look like they are
right, but aren’t. Occasionally, the words that they opt for contradict with what they intend to say or write. Here are some
common mistakes:
What is normally said/written: Congrates on your new
born!
What you intend to say/write: Congrats on your new born!
Why? The word “congrates” does not exist…yet. Congrats is
the shortened form of congratulations.
2
What is normally said/written: That’s mean
What you intend to say/write: That means
Why? “That’s mean” abbreviation of “That is
mean”. “That means” signifies a meaning.
What is normally written: Its nice to see you
What you intend to write: It’s nice to see you
Why? “Its” is used to show possession or belonging, as in “The lioness is nursing its cub.” If you
mean ‘”it is”, then “it’s” should be the correct
form.
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LANGUAGE
What is normally said/written: Everyone has problems
with their grammar
What you intend to say/write: Everyone has problems
with his or her grammar
Why? All indefinite pronouns such as “Everyone”,
“Anyone”, “No one” and “Someone” are singular. Therefore,
words that refer to them should not be plural.
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O C T - DE C
7
What is normally said/written:
Law enforcement helps avoid film
and music piracy
What you intend to say/write: Law
enforcement helps prevent film
and music piracy
Why? “Avoid” means “keep away from”, while
“prevent” means “stop something from happening”.
What is normally said/written: I need
to give a quick summary of the movie
What you intend to say/write: I need
to give a brief summary of the movie
Why? “Quick” means “fast”, while
“brief” means “short”.
6
4
What is normally said/written: I am boring
What you intend to say/write: I am bored
Why? You don’t say “I’m boring” as it suggests that
you bore people. When you want to tell others
about how you feel, it’ll always be “bored”. The
same thing goes to interesting/interested, annoying/annoyed, irritating/irritated, amazing/amazed, relaxing/
relaxed, terrifying/terrified, amusing/ amused, frustrating/
frustrated, embarrassing/embarrassed, etc. The ones with ‘-ing’
are used to describe things, places or situation that cause you to
feel certain emotions, while those with ‘-ed’ are used to describe your feeling.
What is normally said/written: Carry marks.
What you intend to say/write: On-going
assessment marks.
Why? You don’t carry your marks in your
purse or bag .
What is normally written: Who’s car is this?
What you intend to write: Whose car is this?
Why? “Who’s” is the shortened form of “Who
is”. If you want to ask about possession or belonging, then it should be “Whose”.
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8
9
What is normally said/written: Her voice is
very unique
What you intend to say/write: Her voice is
unique
Why? Unique already means the only one of
its kind. Thus, it eliminates the need to add
“very” to intensify the word in front. ■
WHEN LAID BACK STYLE IS NO LONGER COOL
Dear Friends,
T
he next 2 weeks are going to be
quite hectic for some of us, especially those who are teaching both
diploma and degree programs. What
with all revisions, final presentations, exam
preparations, audit, OBE, CDL reports etc.
Some will push themselves to cope and do
their best, and a few (*sigh) tend to over
stressed themselves. It is actually recommended that whenever our job has turned to
such a burden, we should learn and know when to pause, reflect, relax
and make a fresh start. We need to be able to ease ourselves from any
form of tensions, which is rather difficult to do. There are times we hear
our friends joke over it saying, “Cool it, friends! Relax! No one’s going
to fire us if we don’t do it!”
Well, let me tell you something- being too relax and laid back are not
really cool. Those attitudes are affecting others around us in a negative
way. Too easy going will affect productivity (ours and our colleagues’)
and hinder progress. I have mentioned many times in my column, both
directly and indirectly, that our ability to be productive at work should
not be compromised…let alone by our so called – cool – laid back –
style.
We need to remember though, in our effort to be productive at the workplace, we may make mistakes. After all, we are only human and we keep
on learning. Yet our initial mistakes should make us grow and become
editor’s notes
R
bulletin
EDITORIAL
LANGUAGE
ecently I was pushed out of my
comfort zone and surprisingly,
it was not as bad as I thought it
would be. You see, I’m not a
swimmer and the deepest I would go in
the water is where I can still stand on my
two feet comfortably with my chest up
being safely above water. My ‘swimming’
memories mostly involve having a gigantic inflatable tyre tube around me as I
bobbed around the shallow parts of the sea
at Santubong beach many, many years
ago.
In early October, my husband and
I decided to go to Tenggol Island before the 6-month monsoon hits
Dungun. We went with a couple of friends who were both excited to
see the beautiful island and snorkel. I quickly agreed to take up the
snorkeling package too, only to question my decision upon reaching
the white sandy beach. It’s a gorgeous place no doubt, water’s so
clear you can see somber-coloured sea cucumbers dotting the coral
landscape.
I decided I would just stick around the shallow parts, walking
unstably in the water while taking photos of schools of pale coloured
fishes that almost blended in with the sand, as I thought it really
couldn't get any better than this. However, my friend, K, kept on telling me how beautiful the fishes and corals were at the deeper end. She
told me to get my life jacket on and she would ‘pull’ me in the water.
Dragging my feet towards the beach to get the lifejacket, I was trying
to decide whether the plan was totally ingenious or ridiculously stupid. I went with it anyway.
Patrons
Advisor
Editor & Layout
Sub-Editors
In-House Artist
2 Language Bulletin Oct—Dec 2012
more mature. If we have workplace ethics, we
won’t let our mistakes plague us forever and
we won’t hate our job. Give problems and create tensions among colleagues are immature and
irresponsible acts.
The management also needs to be aware that too much focusing on
problem- solving can also lead to complacency among us. So how can
we be sure that we do not fall into the complacency trap? And if we
already did, how do we get out from it? The answer is a simple one. We
need to find a sense of purpose once again, within our working environment. If we belong to the non-performing group or we have a “fixed
belief” on everything, we may require a dose of wake-up calls! Running
into this conundrum of being too confident at the workplace can also
jeopardize the organization. As the APB family, I want us all to cultivate a winning mindset. Excuses such as not understanding the organization’s goals, generation gap and communication breakdown are not to be
tolerated anymore. Think about those who are jobless, work as hard (or
harder) as the amount of work that we have, requires. It is okay to relax,
but not too laid back and it should not falter the quality of our work.
p/s: Your help may go unnoticed, be helpful anyway...
Love,
Roszainora
Advisor
[email protected]
K decided to give me her lifejacket too to support myself so I
could lean forward while I also had my own on. I would not forget the
moment I felt my feet left the reassuring sand as we moved into
deeper waters. I inhaled sharply through my mouth via the snorkeling
gear and held tightly to my two lifejackets while my legs flailed rather
awkwardly and uselessly. K told me to kick higher and I obeyed. I
could hear and feel the water splashing behind me and rather surprisingly, I propelled forward!
Within just a few meters beyond the barren shallow seabed, I
could start seeing corals of different red and purple hues, which grew
in numbers till they covered the whole ocean floor as we went deeper.
Vibrant coloured fishes darted below the corals as we glided above
them. It certainly felt like I was watching National Geographic on HD
TV except that, it was live. My initial ardent fear of drowning melted
as soon as I realized that it was actually quite impossible while I still
had my life jacket on. We spent quite a while just watching the fascinating underwater life. Every now and then I would look up and
watch the distant beach, feeling a shiver of delicious adrenaline running down my spine before I immersed myself in the underwater
world again. I returned to the beach a changed person.
Going out of your comfort zone is undoubtedly difficult but
what I realised is that, only when you’re out of it, then only you
would be able to see how much you could’ve missed out had you
insisted on staying in the same place. We might need a little push, or
in my case, a little ‘pull’, from those around us, but no matter how
you do it, the results could be more rewarding than you could ever
imagine.
And you know what? I might even try scuba diving next! See
you next year!
aileen
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
Team Building 2012 Series
Part 2
By YEE LEONG YENG
“Self stress healing management” was another
module that I really enjoyed. A technique called REIKI-LVT
was taught to transmit high positive energy frequency
through the palm of our hands coupled with a deep breathing technique. There are 7 energy points in our body, the
crown, brow, throat, heart, solar plexus, sacral and root.
The technique’s primary function is to receive energy and
distribute it to other parts of our body. All the 7 points are
connected to our vital organs and hormones. Firstly, we
were introduced to learn the technique of “clock and lock”.
“Clock” is by telling our mind our intention, such as “I wish
to transmit positive energy with high frequency to the
crown”. Then, we “lock” it in our heart by putting our right
palm on our heart. “Lock” is to affirm our intention. Secondly, we were taught on how to acquire the technique of
deep breathing. Its function is to help us stabilize our mental, emotional, spiritual and physical aspects through the
power of imagination. It helps to enhance our lymphatic
system to dispose the toxic and waste in our body. As we
were all aware of, the food supplied at the training centre
were sumptuous, mostly meat and some vegetables.
Hence, it was rather important for us to know how to reduce the toxicity in our body.
firm, energetic, steadfast, and aspiring. When we know the
colour profile of our family members, be it our spouse or
our kids, we can deal with and handle them easily. Nevertheless, we only learned the basic technique to transfer
our good or positive energy to others, but we were not
taught on how to shield or protect bad or negative energy
from entering our body! In other words, it is not advisable
to practise it on others.
What is the main function of introducing the above
module to us? As we all aware of, modern life is full of
hassles, frustrations, datelines to meet, demands from
bosses, problems and expectations. Work stress is becoming more and more prominent in our daily working life.
Some take it as a way of life, some grumble and those
who cannot take it, the mind and body pay the price. No
doubt, stress is not always bad. If stress comes in small
doses, it helps to motivate oneself to perform better when
under pressure. When faced with threats or challenges,
our body responds to them and they may affect our physical state. When you encounter symptoms like rises in
blood pressure, bad temper, rapid breathing, poor digestive system and immune system, and sleep disorder,
chances are that stress is affecting you. Hence, it is beneficial to overcome stress before it hijacks your life and undermine your health! This is where the REIKI-LVT can be
a good help to aid your problems.
We were further taught to inhale and exhale correctly and effectively. The effective way is by inhaling
through our nose by the count of 4, holding the breath on
the count of 2, then exhaling through our mouth on the
count of 7 and holding the breath on the count of 2. The
process is further enhanced with the help of soft music,
and it goes on as needed. The deep breathing exercise
can be done individually or in pair. When I acquired the
right breathing technique, I could detect a kind of energy
acquired as I swayed my hands. The feel for the energy
was like watching the “Dragon Ball” protagonist when he
pushed the ball-like energy to the enemy! Isn’t that amazing? However, it varies from one person to another.
Frankly speaking, this can only happen if the technique is
right.
We then learned to further detect the self energy
colour. We posses 4 types of colour profiles, i.e. White,
Pink, Green and Blue. The most prominent colour we own
shows our characteristics, skills, weaknesses, career, disruption, the diseases we are prone to contract and the
remedy. “White” shows the characteristics of sensitive,
intelligent, high spirit, possesses leadership quality, high
confidence, and intellectual.”Pink” represents one’s jauntiness, open minded, considerate, rational, mature, loving,
open hearted, and highly creative. As for “Green”, it is said
to be highly knowledgeable, good memory, analytical, active, sociable, clever and friendly. “Blue” exhibits one’s
intellectualism, mature, aggressive, far sighted, smart,
How you respond to a challenge can be a type of
stress, either we get away from it, or fight it. Apparently,
when we are overloaded, our bodies produce a large
amount of chemicals called cortisol, adrenaline and
noradrenaline, which trigger our heart rate and muscle, to
alert and prepare oneself for a challenging situation.
Any organizational change can be give a great impact at the level of employees. It depends on individual
reaction and response to the state of change. Thus, performing a deep breathing 4272 is a method you can try to
deal with stress.■
Language Bulletin Oct—Dec 2012
3
Language learning strategies (LLS) are techniques used
by learners to learn language effectively. Mohamed Amin
Embi (2000) defines LLS as plans or actions that learners
take to develop and improve their learning process of the
language. Language learning strategy is also defined as
Grammar Learning Strategy
methods that could help learners to obtain second language knowledge (Rubin, 1975 in Oxford 1994). Besides,
By NUR HAFIZAH RABI’AH BT HUSIN
Oxford (1990) states that language learning strategies are
explicit actions that make the learning process much easier, faster, more stimulating, more self-directed, more effective and more transferable to any new
situations that are faced by students. In the effort of making learning English in classrooms easier to
understand, effective and as enjoyable as possible, the right choices of language learning techniques
are very essential. Superman strategy is one technique that can be taught to English language learners to learn about subject verb agreement (SVA) for Simple Present Tense.
1. She (hear/hears) a siren outside of her house.
singular
Therefore, the correct verb for the subject in the sentence above is hears.
If the subject
is plural
Purpose:
To teach/learn an easy formula for subject verb agreement. This tip/technique can help you to construct correct sentence that uses Simple Present Tense by matching correct subject and verb.
Main Idea/Usage/Value/Benefit:
Many people always make mistakes in SVA and are confused with the verb rules to apply for singular and plural subjects. For example:
She do the works.
They does the works.
Mr. Salim go to school.
Ina and Tini goes to school.
Class end early.
Things gets better.
The formula explained here is specifically to be used for Simple Present Tense action and non-action verbs. This Superman strategy can help you to construct sentences correctly where the Subjects and Verbs agree to each other by
following the steps below.
Steps/Procedures & Examples:
Identify and circle the subjects in the sentences.
1
so
so
The verb
does not
need to be
added an
‘s’
2. They (smile/smiles) widely.
plural
Therefore, the correct verb for the subject in the sentence above is smile.
However, for subjects ‘I’ and ‘You’ are a special case. Just bear in mind, ‘I’ and ‘You’ are already strong subjects, therefore they do not need help from the Superman. So for subjects ‘I’ and ‘You’, the verbs must NOT be added
an ‘s’.
This Superman Strategy also can be used and applied to Verb to Be (is/are, was/were) and Verb to Have (has/have)
where the verb for singular subject ends with an ‘s’.
E.g.
E.g.
Ali/Sarah/He/She/It
is
was
has
Identify the verbs.
She (hear/hears) a siren outside of her house.
They (smile/smiles) widely.
My experience part 5
If the subject
is singular
4 Language Bulletin Oct—Dec 2012
so
so
Superman will
come to
accompany
so
By YEE LEONG YENG
As I have mentioned in earlier series, certain words in Mandarin can be confusing if we are not aware of it. The words
“chJdDo” and “zhIdDo” look almost alike, but are they really the same?
Look at the form of the subject. Is it singular or plural? After you have identified the form of the subject, remember the following tip:
Keep in mind
that the
subject is
alone
The Superman Strategy to learn SVA was inspired by Nur Hafizah’s husband’s, Ahmad
Shahran bin Ibrahim, English language learning
strategy during childhood.
华语角落 | MANDARIN CORNER
E.g.
The verbs in the example above are in the parentheses and italicized.
3
so
Superman will
not come to
accompany
Extension/Variations:
She (hear/hears) a siren outside of her house.
They (smile/smiles) widely.
2
Keep in mind that
the subjects are
more than one
The verb
needs to be
added an
‘s’
The answer is definitely not. “chJdDo” is to tell someone that we are late, whereas “zhIdDo” is to show that we are aware
of something or know of something. Let’s look at the two statements below:
“wQ chJdDo le”
“ wQ zhIdDo le”
The first statement is about being late; the second is being aware of something. Students entering class late is a common
phenomenon on campus. I frequently face the same problem too. What I usually do is to ask them to apologize by saying
“duLbuqK (sorry), wQ chJdDo le”. But more often than not, it turned out to be this way,
“duLbuqK (sorry), wQ zhIdDo le”.
In another words, students are not remorseful for being late to class, but are aware of it, which means they will do it again,
just like the old saying “old habit dies hard”. Hence, pronunciation plays a good role in differentiating the differences between these two words. ■
Language Bulletin Oct—Dec 2012
5
BAHASA ARAB
BAHASA ARAB
Translation of the Pronouns ‫هو‬/‫ هي‬and ‫ـه‬/‫ ــها‬in the Al-Quran: An Outlook
By ASSOC. PROF. DR. AZMAN CHE MAT
I
n Arabic grammar, the pronoun is an element that draws
many concerns in its usage, whether it is for learning
purposes or translation needs. Pronouns of Arabic are
used based on two conditions; namely number of the nouns
and gender of the nouns. The use of pronouns must strictly
follow the rule of Arabic grammar, number and gender accordingly.
The focus of the article is visible pronoun (dhamīr zāhir)
which comprises of munfassil (disconnected) and muttasil
(connected). And because of our limited space for discussion, only two visible pronouns are selected namely ‫هو‬and
‫هي‬for munfassil and ‫ـه‬and ‫ـها‬for muttasil. These two
categories represent the third person. Before going further
into the discussion, comparison between Arabic and Malay
use of pronoun is highlighted. In the Arabic language, pronouns are used according to genus different, (male + single)
substituted by ‫هو‬and ‫ـه‬while (female + single) is
substituted by ‫هي‬and .‫ـها‬
However in Malay, the only pronouns to represent
this meaning and function are “dia” or “ia” and “-nya”. To
view this comparison generally, the following illustration
will demonstrate the difference of pronoun in Arabic language and Malay.
Language
Arabic pronoun Malay pronoun
Features
Gender representation
√
X
Number representation
√
√
Orthography difference
√
√
From the illustration, it can be said that the Malay
pronoun is neutral in its nature. That means the use of pronoun “dia” or “ia” and “-nya” is applicable to anything regardless of gender (Teuku & Baharuddin, 2000). To explain
more on that basis, two sentences are shown as follows:
1.
= ‫ هو طبيب‬dia seorang doktor (he is a doctor)
2.
=‫ هي طبيبة‬dia seorang doktor (she is a doctor)
1a. =‫ والده طبيب‬bapanya seorang doktor (His father is a
doctor)
2a.= ‫ والدها طبيب‬bapanya seorang doktor (her father is a
doctor)
As demonstrated above, the translation of Arabic pronoun
for male and female into Malay is clearly similar. In this
regard, gender difference in Malay pronoun can be identified through discourse context and how the translation of ‫هو‬
and ‫هي‬in the al-Quran must be investigated. To achieve this
goal, four ayahs of the al-Quran were selected and translation of “Tafsir Pimpinan Ar-rahman” are applied for analysis and discussion.
6 Language Bulletin Oct—Dec 2012
َّ .1
‫ك ُه َو األَبْتَ ُر‬
َ ُ‫إن َشانِئ‬
Sesungguhnya orang yang bencikan engkau, Dialah
yang terputus (dari mendapat sebarang perkara yang
diingininya).(al-Kawthar: 3)
‫ َسلَم ِه َى َح ََّّت َمطْلَ ِع ال َف ْج ِر‬.2
Sejahteralah malam (yang berkat) itu hingga terbit
fajar! (al-Fajr: 5)
‫َحد‬
َ ‫ َوََلْ يَ ُك ْن لَهُ ُك ُف ًوا أ‬.3
"Dan tidak ada sesiapapun yang setara denganNya"
(al-Ikhlas: 4)
‫فِْي َها ُكتُب قَيِّ َمة‬. 4
Terkandung di dalamnya pelajaran-pelajaran dan hukum
-hukum yang benar (al-Bayyinah: 3)
The disconnected pronouns ‫ هو‬and ‫ هي‬from the first and
second ayahs were translated into Malay without mentioning the gender of the reference. The first ayah talks about
the enemy/person who hates Muhammad S.A.W was a
man. However, in Malay the pronoun “dia” can be a man
or a woman. If the reader has no information about the
context of the ayah, he will generalize that anybody regardless of his or her gender that hates Muhammad will
not gain what he wants. The fact was, the pronoun here
refers back to the occasion of al-cAs ibn Wa’il, cAqabah
ibn Abi Mucait, Abu Lahab, Abu Jahal and others who
humiliated Muhammad S.A.W for not having a son. In
Arabic, al-abtar means a man who has no descendant. The
second ayahs the pronoun ‫هي‬was not translated into
Malay, but substituted by the noun “malam itu” (that
night). In this regard, the translator has provided a direct
message without using the pronoun in Malay.
Meanwhile, connected pronouns ‫ـه‬and ‫ـها‬are represented
in third and fourth ayahs. The third ayah provides translation of ‫ـه‬with –Nya. As we can see here, the capital letter
of Nya is used in referring to the Almighty, Allah. This
use is generally practised in Malay language when a writer
intends to mention Allah in his writings. The last ayah
used pronoun –nya to substitute ‫ـها‬with no reference to
gender difference.
To briefly conclude, the translation of ‫هي‬/‫هو‬and ‫ـها‬/‫ـه‬is
challenging if the translator isnot familiar with the context
of the text. Most probably he may be mistaken in his
translation if he only depends on the structure of the sentence. With regards to pedagogical implications for teaching and learning of Arabic for Malay-speaking learners,
the use of these pronouns should be given special attention to avoid demotivating them from learning Arabic language positively. ■
Laporan Program Bahasa Arab (‫الع َر ِب َّية‬
َ ‫ )ال َت ْق ِر ْير لِ َب ْر َنامِج اللُ َغة‬Oleh USTAZ ZULFADHLI
Pada tanggal 3 September 2012, program Malam Kebudayaan Bahasa Arab telah diadakan oleh unit bahasa Arab Universiti
Teknologi Mara Terengganu sebagai kerjasama dengan pelajar diploma pelancongan bahagian 3. Program ini telah dijalankan di Dewan Kuliah Anggerik dan Dewan Kuliah Bakawali yang melibatkan 297 orang peserta daripada kalangan pelajar yang mengambil subjek bahasa Arab pada semester itu.
Bagi pengisian pada malam tersebut, dua acara telah dipertandingkan iaitu Drama Arab dan Nasyid Arab. Drama Arab telah
disertai oleh pelajar-pelajar yang sedang mengambil subjek bahasa Arab 2 pada masa itu yang merangkumi enam kumpulan. Manakala, Nasyid Arab pula telah disertai oleh pelajar-pelajar yang mengambil subjek bahasa Arab 1 yang merangkumi empat kumpulan.
Program ini bertemakan “Hari Raya” bersempena dengan bulan Aidilfitri yang masih lagi diraikan pada masa itu.
Bermula pada jam 8 malam, proses pendaftaran berlangsung di pintu masuk kedua-dua dewan kuliah tersebut. Pada jam 8.30
malam, kedua-dua acara tersebut dimulakan. Acara Nasyid Arab telah berakhir lebih awal disebabkan oleh jumlah peserta yang sedikit.
Manakala bagi acara Drama Arab, acaranya berakhir sekitar jam 10.30 malam. Antara tetamu-tetamu yang hadir ialah Ustaz Wan
Anuar Wan Mamat (Ketua Unit Bahasa Arab UiTMT), PM Dr. Azman Che Mat, Ustaz Ahmad Nazuki@Marzuki Yaakob, Ustazah Nur
Hafizah Ahmad Tajuddin dan Ustazah Nor Shaifura Musilehat.
Secara keseluruhan, program ini berlangsung dengan baik. Namun, disebabkan oleh beberapa faktor yang tidak dijangka, ia
berada di dalam kekalutan. Walau bagaimanapun, masalah-masalah tersebut dapat di atasi oleh para ahli jawatankuasa program yang
diketuai oleh saudara Mohd Syaifuddin bin Mohd Alias. ■
Tahniah kepada para pemenang !!! !!! ‫أَ ْلفُ َم ْبر ُْوك لِ ْل َفائ ِِزيْن‬
Jauh Berjalan Luas Pandangan
Oleh Roszainora Setia dan Norhafiza Abu Seman
Peka pada adat, adab serta budaya
Melancong atau mengembara ke tempat orang boleh memberikan
kita pelbagai pengajaran serta pengalaman. Contohnya, mungkin
ada yang memandang remeh pada pandangan masyarakat sesuatu tempat itu apabila anda bercuti bersama kanak-kanak. Untuk keluaran ini, kami akan berkongsi apa yang boleh kita samasama fikirkan apabila pergi bercuti ditempat asing bersama kanakkanak.
Untuk permulaan, anda mungkin perlu membuat sedikit
kajian (dengan membaca buku atau melayari internet, atau mendapatkan pandangan daripada pengalaman orang lain) mengenai
tanggapan dan penerimaan orang terhadap bayi dan kanak-kanak.
Hal ini sangat mustahak kerana ia sedikit sebanyak akan menentukan sejauh mana kelancaran percutian anda itu. Kenapa kami
berpesan begitu?
Kita semua maklum, tidak semua orang memandang kanak
-kanak dalam persepsi yang sama – sekiranya anda mendambakan percutian yang menenangkan, tangisan dan kerenah anakanak kecil adalah perkara terakhir yang anda mahukan.
Persepsi terhadap bayi dan kanak-kanak juga perlu dilihat
dalam konteks perbezaan budaya. Sebagai contoh, sekiranya di
Malaysia, anda mungkin tidak kisah orang asing mencuit pipi
mungil bayi anda atau mengusap kepalanya. Tetapi, sekiranya
anda melakukan perkara yang sama di Thailand, anda dianggap
menghina anak tadi kerana kepala anak hanya boleh diusap oleh
ibu bapanya sendiri dan bukan orang lain!
Oleh itu, cuba selidik fenomena-fenomena begini di negara
yang anda ingin melawat. Kami mendapati, contohnya, bahawa
sesetengah restoran di London kurang selesa jika mereka mendapati terdapat kanak-kanak yang makan di sana (mungkin kerana
kanak-kanak cenderung mengganggu pelanggan yang lain) sementara di sesetengah tempat di Paris dan Beijing kanak-kanak
yang dibawa masuk ke restoran akan mendapat layanan yang
mesra dan istimewa.
Terdapat sebuah restoran di China yang tidak membenarkan seseorang pelanggan meninggalkan tempat itu selagi anak
mereka tidak mahu menerima ais krim (ais krim tersebut tidak
tersenarai pada menu dan diberi secara percuma). Dengan memahami budaya di negara lawatan, pengalaman lawatan akan
menjadi lebih menyeronokkan.
Di sesetengah bahagian di Asia, terutamanya Jepun dan
Korea, kanak-kanak berambut perang dan bermata biru dianggap
pelik tetapi menarik, terutamanya di kawasan luar bandar. Jangan
terkejut jika ada yang ingin bergambar dengan anak anda yang
berambut perang. Kadang-kala anda menyukai perhatian yang
diberikan, namun anda juga mungkin terasa kurang selesa.
Perkara asas sebelum memulakan aktiviti melancong yang menggirangkan bersama anak-anak kecil adalah dengan melakukan
sedikit kajian mengenai persekitaran yang bakal dialami dan kunjungi.
Sekiranya merasa ragu-ragu anda perlulah rajin untuk bertanya. Malas bertanya sesat jalan … luas berjalan, luas pemandangan. Tunggu apa lagi? ■
Language Bulletin Oct—Dec 2012
7
ANGLOPHONE WRITINGS REMAIN PERIPHERAL DUE TO
A LACK OF AUDIENCE: A COMMENTARY PART II
By MAZNI MUSLIM & SHAMSHAD BEGHAM OTHMAN
Africa
It is noted that the African continent was colonized by various
imperial forces such as Britain, Portugal, France, Italy and Germany. The impact of multi colonisation on the vast continent resulted in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s (1996:17) observation that “even
today, Africa is still defining itself in terms of Anglophone and
Francophone linguistic zones”. In addition, Ngugi (1997: 80) said
that “African languages have been sidelined in favour of European languages”. For most of the continent, English which has
been in Africa for nearly 400 years or French or Portuguese is
the language of trade, of road signs, of education, of courts of
law and all of that (McArthur, 1991: 14). English, like the other
imperial languages, is assumed to be the natural language of
literary as “there have been people from West Africa writing in
English since the 18th century. The best-known of these early
works was The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah
Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African, published in London in
1789” (Williams, 1997: 31).
According to Marum (1997: 128), among the African Anglophone writers, Chinua Achebe can be said to be very much
“the father figure of modern African literature in English”. Zach
(1991: 10) further added that Achebe “emphasizes the significance of English as a unifying factor in ‘a new voice coming out
of Africa, speaking the African experience in a world-wide language’”. However, many other postcolonial African writers do not
share Achebe’s enthusiastic opinion. They are debating as to
whether English can be a suitable medium of expressing African
experience. Obi Wali’s much debated article entitled ‘The Dead
End of African Literature’ claims that the use of English by African writers “can only lead to sterility, uncreativity and frustration” (Zach, 1991: 10). Ngugi wa Thiong’o has a similar view and
in fact he was the first to express the language crisis. He regards
the use of English by African writers as only “perpetuating the
spiritual subjugation of the Africans” (Zach, 1991: 10).
These writers’ verbal war arguing the question of whether
language determines thinking and culture, and whether English
can be an appropriate medium of literary expression will remain
unresolved. It is because these are exactly the questions which
are being hotly debated by postcolonial writers world-wide, and
their opinions differ widely from one another. We must leave it as
it is and move on to our main agenda – to investigate the position
of Anglophone writings in Africa as there was a comment made
by Abiola Irele (1990) as cited in Ha (1996: 209), “on the gap
between Europhonic African writings and the African public”.
Many African Anglophone writers believe that they are writing for
the masses; grassroots readers. But unknown to them, they are
dealing in the language which is not even accessible to their own
people. Irele (1990) further stated that “the vast bulk of this writing is not accessible to the African public – and this concerns not
simply the illiterate sections but also the growing body of educated Africans” (Ha, 1996: 209). In addition, Oyegoke (1996: 3738) stressed that English is still more or less the minority language of the “approximately 20 percent of the intellectual elite
and used by far fewer people than the indigenous language”.
Anglophone writings in Africa are being marginalised as
“the grassroots readers of English literature use a different language” (Oyegoke, 1996: 38). For example, although Achebe’s
Things Fall Apart published by Heinemann London received acclaim in the British national press and instant acceptance in the
States and eventually went on to sell “three million copies, and
8 Language Bulletin Oct—Dec 2012
was translated into 45 foreign languages” (Comber, 1991: 79)
but in Africa, “it took the novel all the twenty years to sell a million
copies (1958-1978)” (Oyegoke, 1996: 39). On the other hand,
Ngugi’s Gikuyu writing Caitaani Mutharabani received an instantaneous success locally (Oyegoke, 1996: 39). The real scenario
of the status concerning Anglophone writings in the African continent is best illustrated by Ama Ata Aidoo. She states:
If you are writing in Ghana, Nigeria or
Zimbabwe and 70 percent of your people do not even speak English, and you
are publishing in English, how can they
love you? They do not know you. And
those who do know about you have a
kind of reverence-fear relationship because the only way they encounter you
is in the classroom. You are a textbook.
You are not a writer they pick off the
shelf to enjoy or not enjoy. You are
rammed down people’s throats. (English
Today, 1986: 38)
percent of the country’s population” (Nor Faridah & Quayum, 2001:
jian Bahasa UKM.
5).
Hosillos, L. (1985). Cultural liberation and Philippine literature. In
Tenggara, vol. 17/18, p. 106.
Even though there is a lack of audience locally, Filipino Marum, E. (1997). Stars in the moral universe: Writing and resiswriters today continue to write in English. But they will be writing
tance to colonialism. In M-H Msiska & P. Hyland, Writing
for a reading public that will be decreasing in size and possibly
and Africa. London; Longman.
also in importance. Nevertheless, it is too premature to predict the McArthur, T. (1991). English in the world, in Africa and in South
end of Filipino literature in English. We can only pray that it will
Africa. In English Today, vol. 15, p. 14.
continue to develop, at least for some time because the writers Ngugi wa Thiong’o. (1996). A view of our own: Ethnocentric perwriting exclusively in English hope someday to have their audience
spectives in literature. In Fadilah Merican et. al. (eds.), A
among their own people. These writers believe with the idea that
view of our own: Ethnocentric perspectives in literature.
there is an ‘archipelago’ of English-speaking people to write for
Kuala Lumpur: Fakulti Pengajian Bahasa UKM.
elsewhere in the world; maybe in the States, Britain, Singapore or Ngugi wa Thiong’o. (1997). Writers in politics. Oxford: James Cursome other countries. To be continued...
rey Ltd.
Nor Faridah Abdul Manaf & Quayum, M. A. (2001). Colonial to
References
global: Malaysian women’s writing in English (1940s-1990s).
Kuala Lumpur: IIUM Press.
Bernad, M. (1981). Philippine literature in English: Some sociologi- Oyegoke, L. (1996). Problems, parallax and solutions in the theory
cal consideration. In Tham S. C. (ed.), Essays on literature
and criticism of African literature. In P. Sharrad et. al. (eds.),
and society in Southeast Asia. Singapore: Singapore UniverNew literatures review, issue 28/29, pp. 35-39.
sity Press.
Williams, P. (1997). West African writing. In M-H. Msiska & P.
Florentino, A. S. (1986). What price Filipino writing in English? In
Hyland, Writing and Africa. London: Longman.
English Today, no. 6, pp. 36-38.
Zach, W. (1991). The study of ‘new literatures in English’ at univerHa, M-P. (1996). Post-colonial reading, reading post-colonial. In
sity level: Current problems and trends. In M. Chan & R.
Fadilah Merican et. al. (eds.), A view of our own: EthnocenHarris (eds.), Asian voices in English. Hong Kong: Hong
tric perspectives in literature. Kuala Lumpur: Fakulti PengaKong University Press.
Based on the given information, it is proven that Anglophone
African writings are not well-received by the local audience due
to various factors which include their literacy rate and language
barrier.
Quill
The Philippines
Quilling or paper filigree is a unique art form that uses small rolls and delicate strips of paper to
shape intricate and complex 3D designs. Quilling became popular during the Medieval and Renaissance periods, and many early quilling art works were found on cabinets and stands, boards, walls,
pictures frames, and many others. Over the years, many new techniques have emerged, and this art
has been increasingly popular due to the low cost of the materials (paper and glue). Since quilling is
simple and inexpensive, it can be enjoyed by people of all ages. With the emergence of craft blogs,
quilling is seeing resurgence in popularity among arts and crafts lovers, especially in Malaysia.
Hence, it is good to note that a few of Academy of Language Studies’ lecturers are actively involved
in promoting the art of quilling in Malaysia.
Nur Syazwani Halim and Firhana Nur Mohmed Hussin participated in
‘Crafts with ParenThots’ at Tropicana City Mall, Damansara, Selangor as the
craft facilitators on 31st May 2012. The event which started at 11 am and
finished at 4 pm was organised by Parenthots.com, The Star’s parenting
website. The event was organised to give parents a chance to do something
creative with their children. It also aimed to encourage children to have fun
making something they can be proud of. The children were easily stimulated
by the multi-coloured strips of paper, and they were able to focus well when
they started quilling. Furthermore, they were able to think of new ways of
doing things, and to express themselves through their unique creations,
hence promoting the out-of-the-box thinking.
Meanwhile, on 11th August 2012, Wan
Najmiyyah Wan Md Adnan was invited to
BELLA, a live TV talk show of NTV7 to promote her quilling artworks. In conjunction with the then upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration, she was invited to give her views on how to decorate the house using
everyday materials. She also did a demonstration on how to decorate cookie boxes using basic quilling
techniques. She was also previously featured to promote quilling art on Safiyya, a programme which discusses issues on women lifestyles on TV9 on 8th August 2012. It was a good exposure for the quilling craft
as it managed to further promote quilling to a wider scope of audience. Not only quilling encourages everyone to get in touch with their artistic abilities, it also helps in increasing one’s concentration and confidence.
With support from everyone, it is hoped that our lecturers could further
delve into their artistic sides and promote their skills through more arts and
crafts activities in the future.
Another case study is concerning the Filipino literature in
English literary history. The English language was introduced to
the Philippine Islands then with “the occupation forces of the
United States in 1898” (Bernad, 1981: 145). In 1901, it was declared the official language (Florentino, 1986: 36). And by 1948,
one among every three Filipinos could speak English (Bernad,
1981: 154). The English language spread in the Philippines
caused the population to adopt the language in their everyday
life. Filipino literature in English also emerged as a result of this
institutionalisation of English. Consequently, Nick Joacquin, N. V.
M. Gonzalez, Bienvenido Santos, Frankie Jose among others
published their works in English.
Bernad (1981:151) pointed out that in its early stages,
Filipino literature in English was “a minority literature; the authors
were few, they wrote for a small reading public”. Unfortunately,
this scenario remains unchanged. Today, Filipino writings in English may end where it had begun. It had started as the venture of
a small minority; it may be heading back in that same direction. It
is due to the stark fact that “the Filipino writers have lost the ears
and eyes of their own people” (Florentino, 1986: 37). The colonizer’s language becomes a wall between the writers and their
readers. Moreover, according to Bernad (1981: 155), the use of
English has started to decline with a corresponding rise in the
use of Tagalog as the new principal language.
Based on the critics above, we can say that the writers
are alienated from their audience. Hosillos (1985:106) observed
that “Filipino literature in English cannot assume the identity and
role of a national literature and project the identity of the Filipinos
as a people. At most it can only project the Filipino image among
those who can read in English”. In short, writing in English cannot reach the masses of the Filipinos whose lives it expresses
and affects. This sad reality according to Professor Ismail Hussein is because “literatures written in the vernacular language –
English included – reached only a limited audience; about 10-15
YOUR WAY
By
WAN NAJMIYYAH WAN MD ADNAN, NUR SYAZWANI HALIM &
FIRHANA NUR MOHMED HUSSIN
Note: Quilling artworks of Nur Syazwani and Wan Najmiyyah can be found at
www.syazcards.blogspot.com and www.miyyahatkertas.blogspot.com
Language Bulletin Oct—Dec 2012
9
A hybrid Story
“When the wolf met the little Jack of the beanstalk…”
Written by NUR SYIKRI BIN HARUN AND FATHIYAH ISMAIL
O
nce upon a time, there was an ugly, sapless wolf (his name
still remains anonymous until today!) that was starving to
death, and went in and out of the jungle seeking for food for
his survival. He felt virtually disappointed for he had looked
around for food for almost a week in the woods, yet he still couldn’t hit
upon even a small bite of it!
One day, early in the morning, as he crawled weakly, he found a
small house with a little garden. The most amazing thing he could catch
a glimpse of was a giant beanstalk that linked the small garden all the
way up to the sky! “Wow!,” said the wolf.
“Mind your step, son!” said the mother to the little Jack.
“I will, mom!” said the little Jack.
They both watchfully climbed up the beanstalk step by step, and
the small house where Jack dwelled appeared to be smaller and smaller
and smaller and smaller, as small as an ant in a large sugar warehouse.
A moment later, they reached the top of the fluffy cloud. The
nasty wolf and innocent little Jack were standing before a giant palace.
“I think you’re right!” said the hairy ugly-looking wolf.
The wolf swiftly got an idea. He noiselessly tiptoed and approached the house. Before knocking the door of the house, he disguised, as he always did, like an old, frail granny wrapped in the oldfashioned clothes he stole from poor Little Red Riding Hood’s
grandma.
The squeaky wooden door was slowly opened by
a little boy named Jack. Having suspected nothing, he
welcomed ‘the old grandma’ and offered him to come
in.
“I could smell mouth-watering fresh giant flesh! I can’t wait any longer
to gobble him up. I’m really starving to death”, said the wolf, grasping
his empty rough-skinned belly.
“Wait! Be patient you ‘old Grandma’!” scolded Jack.
“You can’t have him just like that! You should disguise
yourself like an animal the ogre likes to pet!” said Jack.
“I know you’re good at that!”
“Whatever! So, now, lay golden eggs!” ordered the ogre.
“I can’t, my lord! I can’t lay golden eggs anymore which really surprised me! I don’t know why, my Lord!” said the disguising ‘golden
hen.’
“Why so? Ooooh! Maybe you’re too old to lay eggs anymore. Hence,
it’d be better if you could, for God’s sake, rest up in a new comfortable, warm reddish velvet shed, which I’ve built solely for you,” offered the ogre to the ‘golden hen.’
The wolf felt so blissful to hear the news about the new shed which
had been prepared for him, so that he could go out later at night to
assault the ogre and eat him up as planned.
When night fell and the north stars were shining, the wolf got ready to
get out of the shed. But, suddenly, when he tried to open the door, he
found that he was locked up in some sort of a giant oven that he first
presumed was a special shed built for the ‘golden hen’ but, apparently, he was totally wrong! The ogre and little Jack had apparently
framed him! The poor wolf had been outsmarted!
“Not again! Jack! Please help me! I swear, I won’t try to eat you up
anymore! Come on! You’re such a good boy! Please! I’m begging
you!” shouted the poor wolf at full volume inside the oven.
When little Jack’s mother came out of the
kitchen, she really got a shock and petrified when she
saw the dubious ‘old grandma’, for she knew that this
wasn’t really a genuine old grandma! He was a wicked,
black-hearted wolf who once had pretended to be Little
Red Riding Hood’s granny and made several attempts
to gobble up the little girl as well. Trembling, the poor
mother shouted out loud like a crazy donkey, and
pleaded to that hellish wolf not to eat them up.
She tried whatever it took to salvage her poor one
-and-only son but it was too little, too late, for the wolf
suddenly grabbed Jack’s neck with his two thick furry hairy hands.
“I’ll gobble him up alive, then, you’ll come after him! Hahahahaha…”
laughed the wolf devilishly.
Jack said to the wolf, “If I offer you the most scrumptious, succulent meat ever in the world, would you let me go? I’ll show you where
you can have ‘fresh meat’ you’ve never seen before. It’s on top of the
cloud up there”, said Jack pleadingly.
“Where is it then?” asked the wolf, salivating.
“How on earth could I get that fresh meat which is on the cloud up
there?” asked the wolf.
“We need to climb up the beanstalk over there till we reach up into a
wall of white clouds!” Jack said as he pointed to the giant beanstalk that
linked the ground up to the sky.
The demonic wolf stared up to the sky and then down to the
ground, up and down, up and down! “Mmmmm… Well! We’ll see if you
are telling the truth, otherwise, I’ll eat you both up instead!” The wolf
gazed sharply at the little Jack’s mother like eagle eyes gazing its prey!
10 Language Bulletin Oct—Dec 2012
“You should pretend to be his golden hen. He used to
pet it yet somehow it has already vanished or may have
been gobbled up alive by another starving monster. He
would be delighted if he gets back his missing golden
hen. How he misses it so!”, lied little Jack.
“Oh! Yeeeaaahhh! Piece of cake!” said the hideous
wolf with confidence.
They both tiptoed into the ogre’s house mutedly. Hiding
beneath the legs of the giant dining table, they saw the
ogre lying peacefully on the cozy couch next to an
empty birdcage in which the golden hen was in before.
As they approached the ogre, they found that the ogre
was sleeping and snoring as loudly as earsplitting blasts
from the whistle of a locomotive!
“Make the sound of a hen!” Jack whispered to the wolf.
“Bok bok bok bok bok...” the ‘golden hen’ voiced out.
The ogre woke up with a start when he heard the sound of the squawking ‘golden hen’ which he had really missed. But, this time, it sounded
rather throaty!
“Who is it?” asked the ogre doubtfully.
“I’m the golden hen, my lord!” said the ‘golden hen.’ “How could you
talk? My missing golden hen couldn’t talk!” wondered the ogre.
“I’ve learned to talk like human! That talking creature who kept me for
a long time taught me how to speak! That is why I disappeared for a
long time,” said the ‘golden hen.’
“Oh! I see! But… Why did your fur turn reddish brown? My missing
golden hen was as bright as the finest 999 carat gold!” said the ogre
skeptically.
“Being apart from you has made me so gloomy, my lord! My tears of
blood have covered all my golden fur!”, said the ‘golden hen.’
“Hohohohoho… I’m going to smoke you for my dinner, oh you, my
golden hen. I’m so sorry, I have to eat you up since you’re no longer
handy to me. Hohohohoho… What a nice smell! It’s the most delicious meal ever!” said the ogre who still believed the disguising wolf
was genuinely a ‘golden hen’.
“Jack! Thank you for the golden hen you’ve found after its disappearance. I really missed it but since it cannot lay golden eggs anymore, I
think I can cook it for dinnertime. Would you like to join me for the
smoked golden hen?” said the ogre to the little Jack.
“No! Thanks. I have to help my mother cook dinner! I’ll join you next
time. I’ve really got to go now. Bye then! Tara! So long!” said little Jack
while waving to the ogre like a Papua New Guinea’s Miss Universe who
has just won the pageant as he slowly stepped down the giant beanstalk.
Well, to shorten the story, little, brilliant Jack and his mother then visited
the beautiful Little Red Riding Hood and her granny. He told them that
the poor wolf had been eaten by the ogre who lived up on the clouds.
They felt relieved to live a life with no more threats from the troublemaking wolf and lived happily ever after…
“What smell is this? It really smells like cinnamon, black pepper,
The End
PRINCE CHARMING AND THE LITTLE BOY
“What should I pretend to be?” asked the wolf.
Then, Jack told his mother that there was an old
weak-kneed granny who came to their house and he
allowed ‘her’ in. ‘She’ also begged for a piece of bread
to swallow as breakfast for the day.
ginger, fennel and… how could it be so hot in here?” said the poor
wolf.
BY NOR ZAITOLAKMA ABDUL SAMAD
A few years ago, in my “Creative Writing” class with Miss Sham, my friends and I were asked to create a short story that contained
these four words: “market”, “little boy”, “cart” and “torn page”. Below is the story which resulted from the writing prompt given.
I
t was Sunday, six o’clock in the morning. Sunday was the most favourite day of the week for Azlina and how she wished she could
stay longer in bed. Beep! Beep! Beep! The alarm clock reminded Azlina to wake up. With her eyes half-opened, Azlina reached for
the small penguin on the small desk next to her bed to shut it up.
“What a fresh morning it is!” she thought and smiled to herself. The penguin clock had disturbed her sweet dream. It was a wonderful dream and she tried to recall it. She was alone in a beautiful place surrounding by colourful flowers, green trees and totally pure
nature. In front of her, there was a lake and far beyond the lake, she could see the mountains reaching up to the sky. A floc k of birds
were racing in the clear blue sky. She viewed the beautiful scenery just like in her favourite Hindi Movies. It seemed everything was so
real and she was on cloud nine.
She could feel the fresh mountain breeze touching and massaging her fair skin softly. The wind played with her hair gently, blew
them romantically and made her hair dance beautifully like a model in the “three in one shampoo” advertisement on television. The feeling was so good, full of love and emotion. Hoop! Hoop! Hoop! She heard the sound of a horse coming behind her. She felt scared at
first and tried to hide but it was too late. The man came nearer to her and she noticed he had a pair of very beautiful brown eyes. She
looked straight into his eyes, admired his manliness and ......Beep! Beep! Beep! That was the end of it. The small and lifeless little
penguin had driven away her sweet dream.
Azlina quickly took a shower and performed an early dawn prayer. She planned to go to the market and buy some groceries.
There was nothing left in her refrigerator and in the pantry. Not even an egg, which could be the simplest meal whenever she was hungry. On that day she could not even fry an egg so that she could have it with soy sauce and rice to satisfy her hunger. Azlina quickly
listed all the things required and rushed to the door.
Teik! She unlocked the car from a few meters away. With her casual dressing and newly bought sandals, she moved towards
the car but before she could start the engine, she heard a little boy crying. She turned around to find the boy but could not see one.
She moved towards the sound and it led her to the cart which she had left under the shady rambutan tree. To her shocking surprise,
she found the most beautiful little boy in the cart. Who on earth had placed this little boy on her dirty cart that she always used to carry
soil and rubbish? She looked closely and found a piece of paper in the form of a torn page snugly placed under the small blanket. She
noticed that there was a note on it pleading anybody who found the boy to take good care of him.
Azlina was confused and her heart was filled with anger. Who were the parents of this little boy? Why were they so heartless
and cruel? How could they dump their child like this? Was this an illegitimate child? The parents must be teenagers because suddenly
she remembered marking one of her students’ essays entitled “Social Problems among Teenagers” and the focus was on teenage
pregnancy.
The night before, Azlina dreamed of a Prince Charming who came to her rescue but now she had to rescue this unfortunate
little boy. Thinking about her dream of fairy tales and Hindi movies the previous night, Azlina began to think whether all these stories
could be the reason for teenage pregnancy and baby dumping. Fairy tales were adored by children and these were their favourite bedtime stories. These children grew up with these stories which were full of romance and true love kiss.
After lodging a police report, Azlina promised herself that if ever she had children in future, she would also read to them stories
of the prophets and the Caliphs in Islam. ■
Language Bulletin Oct—Dec 2012
11
EVENTS
Terengganu Invention, Innovation & Design 2012: An Unforgettable Experience
By NORKAMRUZITA SAADON & NOR ASHIKIN YUSOF
Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important
than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” This is what Invention, Innovation and Design (IID) is all about….Imagination which is transformed
into knowledge which can be shared with the whole world!
This is one of the lessons that we learned when we joined
Terengganu IID (TIID) Competition 2012, which was held
on 20th September 2012 and joining the competition was
truly an unforgettable experience!
Until today, we could not believe ourselves that we participated in the competition, both in the student and staff
categories! After encountering a few obstacles, we managed to submit three students’ projects and one project of
our own and we are so thankful to Allah the Almighty for
giving us the time, health and courage to turn our dreams
into reality. Entering two categories in TIID had given us
different experiences but both were not based on an overnight preparation. They required months of planning,
documenting and implementing and surprisingly, after entering the competition, we appreciate the phrase “If you fail
to plan, you plan to fail” more each day!
The three students’ projects which we competed were
“The Production of Oil Palm biomass Waste as a Potential
Colour Removal from Direct Dye solutions”, “Production of
Catechin as Antioxidant from Oil Palm and Pereskia Bleo
Leaves”, and “Copper Removal Using Adsorbent from Oil
Palm Kernel Shell Waste.” In these projects, cooperating
with students in carrying out the projects had given us a lot
of experiences, especially the experiences in teaching and
training them in doing a research. Through patience and
perseverance, we managed to help the students in understanding the basic concepts in doing research and what
we treasure most was to observe the improvement of selfconfidence in our students. They managed to overcome
their inferiority complex and reticence when they faced the
public and they were able to explain and answer any
questions with regards to their project confidently. All
these would never have been realized if they were not well
D2
th at TII
Our boo
-equipped with the knowledge of their research and we
hope that all the good traits which have been inculcated
would be cherished as long as they live!
In regards to our own project, which was entitled
“Enhancing Grammar Learning Through Grammar-Is-Easy
(GiE) Courseware”, though there were a lot of obstacles
encountered, we truly enjoy and value all the experiences
gained, especially the lesson in believing in ourselves…
The competition taught us to believe in what we do and
never compare what we do with others. When submitting
our application for the competition, we thought that it
would be rejected since that was our first experience in
developing a courseware. However, astonishingly, it was
accepted and this was the sign of the first step in venturing
into the world of innovation. We reminded ourselves to be
optimistic (although we know that the courseware has a lot
of improvement to be done) and we should be proud of
what we had sacrificed, i.e. our leisure time, our energy
and of course, our money, in order to develop the courseware. During the competition, we received some brilliant
ideas and comments from the people who visited our
booth and insyaAllah, the project will be enhanced in the
near future and we hope the courseware will be beneficial
in learning and teaching grammar.
Alhamdulillah, all our weariness disappeared the moment
one of our students’ projects, “The Production of Oil Palm
biomass Waste as a Potential Colour Removal from Direct
Dye solutions”, was announced as the winner of the
“Diamond Award”, which was the award for the overall
winner among all the Gold Award recipients. We also won
“the Best Poster” for our project entitled ““Production of
Catechin as Antioxidant from Oil Palm and Pereskia Bleo
Leaves” and these winnings will definitely help us in preparing ourselves for more IID competitions, insyaAllah.
Indeed, the experiences gained will be cherished, as
Helen Keller once said, ”the best and the most beautiful
things in the world cannot be seen, nor touched…but are
felt in the heart.” ■
Our team which wo
n the
“Gold and Diamon
d Awards”
012
The trophies that we
won
End