Writing Essays

Writing essays for school assignment has to follow certain scheme. If you deviate from the scheme you will not get any marks. When you are asked to write on a topic ' My Doll', you have to write on the features, how pretty it is, the colour of the hair, eyes.. along those lines. So when Sarah wrote that her doll talked and walked at night, she didn't get good marks for it. The same went when she wrote on a banana tree. She didn't get good marks since her banana tree had magical powers. And it didn't come as a surprise when she got a B for English in her UPSR exams.

A girl wrote on a life of a Papa water, Mama water and Baby water facing pollution in a river. The title of the essay was Water Pollution. It was for English paper in SPM exams. The teacher who marked the paper gave her an A. So did the Cambridge Exams Syndicate. She deviated from the scheme but the examiners had good sense to give her an A. Her English was very good.This is what creative writing is all about. And thank goodness that she was not penalised for it. These students must have read a lot and their minds work wonders for them. To me this differentiate a best student from the good ones where creative writing is concerned.

I can still recall a friend of mine wrote for an essay entitled 'My Future Husband'. I can't remember the exact words but something along this lines....

'My future husband must have the look of Robert Redford, the seriousness of Abraham Lincoln, the mind of Albert Einstein and the voice of Gilbert O'Sullivan'. How's that for a future husband?

A complaint free world

I was watching the Oprah Show this morning, and found the issue ' A complaint free world' very refreshing. A pastor was trying to make his followers to abstain from complaining. I am really impressed with what he's trying to do. Please go to AFreeComplaintWorld.org for more details.

Many of us cannot stop from complaining. We complained about the government, the education, our salary, food, children etc. etc. etc. The list is endless. Enough said that if anything does not go our way, we tend to complain. Has anybody done a study on the corelation between complaints and happiness? The more complaints we make the unhappier we are? or vice versa? And has any study been done on the corelation between complaints and the type of person we are? More complaints are being made by pessimists than optimists? I'm sure the findings will be interesting. Who are the people who hardly complained? Are they rich? Are they contented with life? Are they so complacent that they do not care? Are there nothing to complain about?

From my observation, those who complained a lot must be very unhappy. They can't stand the success of others and did nothing about theirs. I would guess that it's better to give suggestion than to complain. At least we can work out the problems and nobody will complain anymore.

For a start I will try to stop from complaining, one day at a time. I have a lot to be grateful for.

ALL I WANT.....

What I want from the government of the day..

is not much.

Just a simple quality of life.

The very basic necessities that I am entitled...

as the citizen of the world.



All I want..

When I wake up in the morning,

A breath of fresh air awaits me..

Not the smell of rotting rubbish uncollected for several days..

Not the burnt smell that pollutes the air..

Just a simple breath of fresh air..

for me to start the day.



All I want..

When I left my home for the day,

My home is safe and sound at the end of the day..

Not the fear of being mugged along the way,
Not the many potholes on the road surface,
Not the many traffic jams or the hike in transportation fares

Not the many accidents that happened everyday..

Just a simple safety

That's all I ask for today...

All I want..
When I get sick and cannot get out of my bed,
A free and reasonable healthcare
is suffice to make me better again.
Not the overtired doctors during my stay
Not the exorbitant charges that won't make my headache go away...
Just a simple smile, a great healthcare
to make me healthy and wise again...

All I want...
When I have to pay to support my living,
A simple low cost is all you have to bring..
Not the high price of houses and cars,
Not the high cost of simple necessities that life has to give,
Especially not the brown water that comes out of my tap,
And not the high cost of education
for generations to come..
Just a simple low cost of living
To make me happy and not scrimping like this...

All I want...
When I elect the government of my choice,
It is not for you to rejoice and bask in glory..
But to take this responsibilty upon yourself
to make life good for everybody else..
Not to bicker among yourself,
Not to think, power is all you care..
Not to think thou is hollier than everbody else,
Not to succumb to bribery, corruption and the world evils
Not to riot, lying on the street or a meeting under a tree..

You are just the government of the day
Grant my wishes
That's all I care.....

Mottoes in Life

I asked my son, Imran about his school's motto the other day. He does not know . So I checked his school badge and found the words, Berilmu, Berakhlak, Berjasa printed on it. Three words..three powerful words that can changed a person's life if he or she chooses to follow it. Not many of us can remember our school motto. I for one cannot recall it at all. And I failed to find it at my school's website. I have to ask my school friends about it.

I like my husband's school's motto. 'Accomplish or Do not begin'. My husband can remember it, the minute I asked him. He told me that every student during his time were required to know the meaning of the motto. He once told me that he tries his best whenever he's doing something just like the motto says. To me a motto says a lot about a school, an organization, a company or the people in the organization.

So when the police came up with 'Saya Anti Rasuah', I was not amused or proud of it. Do not tell me if those policemen who did not have the 'saya anti rasuah',badge, they are pro-bribery.Policemen are supposed to be anti bribery. They do not have to wear a badge to remind them on bribery. They were recruited to fight briberies not to live on it. Zero Crime .. that should be the motto. The same thing goes to the government's offices which put up the 'Buat Kerja' banner. What a mockery. You are supposed to do your job. You are hired to do your job. Nobody should remind you to do your job. I do not know where to hide my face if the banners were put up all over my office. Luckily I do not have an office.

Everyone should have a motto. Just to remind us in case we deviate.Mine... whatever happens, I have myself, I will make it a good and happy self.

Love Songs

Some of us have songs that reminds us of that special someone of days gone by. You cannot help but remember that someone whenever the song is played on air. When you are young and in love, songs like 'your song', 'I'm yours', 'I blessed the day [I found you]' and 'You light up my life', filled up your days and nights. Both of you shared this beautiful songs and often sang together.

But when love gone wrong, songs like 'feeling', 'sorry seems to be the hardest word', 'I'll survive' and 'unbreak my heart', will help you make it through the night. It formed some sort of therapy for your broken soul. Funny thing, it does work. You will cry your heart out whenever you hear those songs. It was as if the songs were written for you. Little that you know that love songs often make you cry.

I too have a song that reminds me of that special someone. Whenever I hear it, it would bring tears to my eyes. The song,' Wind beneath my wings' by Bette Midler, reminds me of my mom. The lyrics were exactly how I felt for my mom.

....... 'you never knew that you're my hero,
You're everything I want to be...
I can fly high like an eagle
You are the wind beneath my wings.....'