Do you laugh a lot?

Assalamualaikum...

Dear all....
Do you often laugh? What's the frequency like?I mean is it the moderate kind of laughter hehe. or when you experience that teary eyed laughter til your tummy hurts and it went on for a few minutes....(you know what I mean).
Of course it depends on the joke.
When we talk about jokes, its funny that NOT ALL our jokes, people could understand. I remember staring to a class who laughed like crazy when I asked a student to give his view and he kept quiet. Then, his friend quickly said " Teacher..he is shy-shy cat.."
I was actually trying to comprehend what was so funny but it was a bit too late because the rest of the class did not PAUSE and THINK.
Yes, limitation in background knowledge and language barrier can also be among other factors. Not understanding the Malay translation that was 'intelligently' created by these translators can make you go like "what?"
But for all the errors (if we are not going to use them in academic setting) I think it's fine to just have a good laugh. I think it is high time my blog gets a pinch of laughter from you guys :-)
And so, this short posting of mine is an avenue for ALL OF YOU- to share any of the jokes that I might have missed hahahaha.
I know for sure...... that if I can laugh when Im with my children, students and close friends, it will really make my day..... cause I believe that laughter - can sometimes be the best medicine.

My Own Quote

Assalamualaikum...

Dear all...
Thank you sooo much for your comments. Hem.....I was wondering...am I forcing you to say things or facts that must always sound right or good?? You can always give any comment which is thought provoking you know? ANd then you discuss among yourselves to see whether it is 100% true or partially true. So tonight, Im going to post my very own quotation (or else you would accuse me of not producing one aha!).
And I will tell you how I came up with this.

I was observing some parents who were sending their children to a motivational seminar which was the MAP (which stands for Motivasi Alihan Pelajar )by Dr.Tengku Asmadi. I enrolled my son because I love reading his book "Teknik Memotivasikan Anak Secara Positif". The closing ceremony was great. I saw how serious parents were in enrolling their children with the hope that some kind of 'hidayah' will be bestowed upon them after attending this course. Tears fell down my cheek as I witnessed these kids transforming themselves into such brave speakers.
Imagine, speaking to a crowd of not less than 500 people with high spirit and confidence. Look how motivated and brave children can turn out to be. A boy actually invited his father up the stage and hugged him while asking for forgiveness. For those who are pessimistic, they would say, the change wont last long.
To me, it was an emotional moment, a moment which might be a turning point in the boy's life. Yes my dear brothers and sisters. I believe we must stay positive in whatever we do. Because the world out there is so full of negativity, we have to differ and believe that something can be done to achieve excellence in life.
And so I salute those parents and thought of how lucky their spouses are for having partners who are concerned about their children's education. I hope you will turn out to be like these responsible parents so that we can be a stronger Ummah. In the middle of all these, I came up with this quote. I am not sure whether you can relate to this (as all of you are still not married). But one day, when you are, you can always come back to this blog and confirm whether it is true.

" When you have someone who takes good care of the family, what is there NOT to LOVE"

- Norhayati Mohd Rasip

What is marriage?

Assalamualaikum..

Dear students,

We met again for the second time. I thought you guys wont turn up.Instead the attendance was full house! A whopping 52 of you. Hehehe..let us see whether we can maintain that!

Hem...our topic that night was mostly on "What is marriage?"You still remember "mithaqan Ghalidan?" which means, a serious covenant (agreement) that should not be taken lightly. It is a legal agreement between man and woman through which both sides enjoy the rights and obligations as husband and wife.
Then, we also discussed the criteria in choosing spouses. Religion or Faith has always been the top priority followed by financial competence, compatibility, loving and beauty. She doesnt have to be as beautiful as Maya Karin -if you consider her as beautiful (well I think she is)or as charming as Robert Redford (him again?).Hem...lets see...do we have a Malay good looking man as an example?Hem...I dont know any except for Rosyam Nor (Sorry!).But again, beauty is truly in the eyes of the beholder. At the end of the day, beauty is also only skin deep. Do you agree? As a future wife, you want someone whom you can respect, be a good leader, guide you and your children to the right path as stipulated in the Quran.
I shall end this posting with a few wonderful quotations:

"A great marriage is not when the 'perfect couple' comes together. It is when an imperfect couple learns to enjoy their differences". - Dave Meurer, "Daze of Our Wives"

"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person".
- Mignon McLaughlin

"Soul-mates are people who bring out the best in you. They are not perfect but are always perfect for you". - Author Unknown


Do you have any other quotes to share? Whether they are your own or taken from other sources, I would surely welcome them. Thank you for taking time to visit this blog. I hope you learn something :-)

What is 'LOVE'?

Dear students,
I was about to go to bed when I remembered my promise to post this issue tonight. Last night, after an 'act of betrayal' of not getting ready the outline (you know what), I decided to teach and later we stumbled upon this, in the many "types of introduction". This is type number 1 - asking one or more question. There are six types altogether and you can use any of them in your introduction. Well, let us see this example:

What is love? How do we know that we are really in love? When we meet that special person, how can we tell that our feelings are genuine and not merely infatuation? And, if they are genuine, will these feelings last? Love, as we all know, is difficult to define. But most people agree that true and lasting love involves far more than mere physical attraction. It involves mutual respect, the desire to give rather than take, and the feeling of being wholly at ease.


Well....what do you think? Agree? As someone who has gone through youth, I would like to know how you would view this question. Will your views later shape your thoughts and actions? Because love, can be both powerful and damaging. So strong that you might lose control and yet so pure, it will never be replaceable. Are you a 'realist 'or 'romantic' ? These two different schools of thought can never co-exist hand in hand but whatever it is, its your own choices and I honestly hope you will give a careful thought when the time comes. Why? Because I truly love all of you.
So, section 11! For all the laughter we had last night, I now invite you to share your views on this matter. Are you ready? 1, 2,...Go!

What make/s good parents?

Assalamualaikum

Dear students,

We met for the first time last Thursday night. Me, a bit uncomfortable after having to teach on the fourth night in a row while your faces showed the 'what-am-i-doing-here' symptom.

Teaching this course will definitely expose myself to the danger of being backfired later(if u you what I mean). How can someone who was trained in Education will be able to teach parenting skills (as I honestly believe that mine has a lot more to be improved). So, I would consider this journey as a 'sharing' and learning experience for both of us.The learning outcome says, you guys must be able to posses the ability to :understand the holistic nature of Islam parenting and family management, understand that parenting skills are learnable (who would have thought so) and applicable to family life, able to apply parenting skills in individual and social contexts,identify and solve family problems from the Islamic perspective and to understand the importance of buiding a balanced child personality. Wow...these can be a bit overwhelming to you (and to me) dont you think? But you know what? Lets cut the chase. It is not so much of the small credit hour allocated for this course (I wish you have more than 0.5). And not so much of making sure that your attendance is taken everytime you come to class (even though it's 20% from yr total evaluation). I think , what is crucial is as you learn these skills (I wont use the word acquire as this is difficult to achive) you will continuously map and reflect from your own experiences as a daughter, or son and later, prepare yourselves as future mothers and fathers. You will further learn to notice the strength and weaknesses of the many marriages around you, be it from your own parents ,relatives and friends. What are the plus points or elements that exist in these marriages that we can emulate so that ours will be a successful one. This leads to your first task which is to share your view on what make/s good parent/parents. I believe your experience as a child will help you to answer this question. On that note, I am proud to announce, that you have just embarked yourselves in one of the most important courses in life - Family Management and Parenting. Welcome to the real world!

What money means to you.

Sorry for the late posting. I was caught up with the holiday mood until an sms came in which says "Madam, where are we supposed to comment?''

Hahahahahaa..
Wait until you guys work okay!

It started one day as I was driving to class that morning, my car ( a six going seven year old car) suddenly gave way and wasnt about to budge at the traffic light. After jerking for a few times, I stepped on the accelerator harder thinking that I might have not slammed hard enough for it to move. The temperature was normal (so was the fuel tank indicator ok). To my dismay, it was obviously another episode of that "whatswrongwithyou!" moment. I had several breakdowns for the past two years and this was definitely not good. Both out of Kuantan, one in front of Batu Caves (where we stopped for ice-cream) and the other at Genting Sempah (no I didnt stop at the McD as I was very upset). People say that the best time to test your patience is whenever you are tested in unforeseen circumstances, you can still SMILE. Well, I DID. But, 0nly for the first ONE hour. The fact that the car was recently repaired (which cost close to RM3K), made we wonder what went on this time. The car was moving so slow that I had to switch on the hazard light to tell other road users that there was this "whatswrongwiththiscar" moment and not "whatswrongwiththisladydriver" instead. Two days later the temperature went up and I think I have had enough of these episodes! Therefore....., if I need to buy a new one, be it! Suddenly, it dawn on me......the down payment.....bloody sucking interests etc...if only MONEY is not a problem.....

So...I decided to ask my students what do they think MONEY means to them. It was section 32 who gave me numerous and amazing responses. How come these 21-22 year old students able to see the importance while I didnt when I was their age?? HOw naive could I be? No wonder I married early even though I didnt come from a rich family!(neither did shafiq's father). No regrets, lesson learnt and we moved on but wow!!!guys you really are matured young adults..So, let us see whether you can say and add something more like desire vs needs...or having to achieve more...what do you mean by this?..or having a better life..how do you define 'better'?..you will be able to buy what you want...so what is the limit? is that so?? Which means you might not have watched the movie 'Indecent Proposal' featuring Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson (and charming Roberd Redford phew..)

In case you havent, it is a story of a financially strapped couple who were betting on a quick trip to Las Vegas. They needed 50K to save their dreamed property. They won $25K the first day and continued betting the next. Obviously they lost and then came the billionaire (why does it have to be Robert Redford...ahhh) who offered $1 Million (this is in the 8o's ok? A million in the 80's is equal to ..I dont know...$5M perhaps?) to spend a night with Demi. Of course if it was u, the moment u hear this, you would say "No way!" and sure enough Woody said, "You go to hell!" (sorry I never use that). But, you got to watch the movie to have a better understanding :-)

So, I pass the ball to your court now, your comments are highly appreciated and let's get the ball rolling!