PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

This CLE project was jointly organized with the Rotary Club of Ipoh in collaboration with the Perak State Education Department. The event was officially declared open by En. Mohd. Yasin, Chief Assistant Director (English Language) in the Perak State Education Department.

Forty-four teachers from thirty-four schools participated in this programme; and in the ‘exit poll’, the feedback was all of them not only thoroughly enjoyed the informative and educational sessions, but also expressed a strong desire to carry on to STAGE 2.

For the successful execution of such projects requires TEAMWORK, and KUDOS & SYABAS are definitely in order to our Chief Coordinator, Yap Swee Fatt and the Facilitators (Trainers), Dr. Eric Wong and Girija Menon.

I shall append my address as President of RCPJ which was delivered during the well attended Opening Ceremony for your consumption:

“Heights by Great Men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight
But they while their companions slept
Were toiling upwards in the night.”

Distinguished Guests, Honoured Participants of CLE and Fellow Rotarians.

At the outset, my heartiest congratulations to the RC of Ipoh for jointly organizing this seminar, The Concentrated Language Encounter (CLE), with the RC of Petaling Jaya in collaboration with the Perak State Education Department.

Much has been publicized in the local media about the declining standards of English in Malaysian Schools. The performance of English in public examinations, particularly in the primary schools, has drawn alarming concern from the public, educationists, teachers and parents.

To be continued in next week's bulletin

To bring back BM into the teaching of maths and science is not a decision of the politicians but of educationists. Educationists’ arguments are based on educational principles of learning. Perhaps linguists could also contribute.

If students are deficient in English, there must be policies put in place to upgrade their language proficiency so that they can cope with these two subjects. And programmes must also be instituted to train the teachers to teach maths and science in English. Making life easier for the students or the teachers is not a solution to the education process. Learning is always full of challenges and students must be guided to acquire such skills in order to sustain their interest in these subjects. The guides are none other than the teachers who are conversant with the language and also the knowledge of these subjects.

Another argument is that the students need to be internationally competitive. By being so, they are more marketable in terms of employment. And English is the language that can enable our students to compete shoulder to shoulder.

Think again!

Please note there will be NO meeting on the following dates:

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2007 when...

1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years. 

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't even have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. :)

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message. 

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

~~~~~~~~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.