From a Std 2 BM workbook

I want to know who approves the content of textbooks for our schools? Laura needed help with her homework today and this was the page from her Bahasa Malaysia (or is it called Bahasa Melayu now? I can't keep up!) workbook.



I am disturbed by this. At an age when the children should be increasing their BM vocabulary and reading interesting stories to better their understanding, they are getting questions like these? The book is teaching the children to look at their fellow countrymen differently? Very obvious that whoever wrote this activity book is very narrow minded and are teaching the children to be so.

Growing up

My little girl is growing up fast! Laura has just started Std 1 this year. Where has the little baby gone to? Today, she came back with a puncture on each arm. Enoculation in her school, follow up of BCG and I don't know what's the other one! She was very pleased to have shared that experience with the rest of her schoolmates.

I remember going through that when I was in Std 1. We all queued up to wait our turn with the nurse. Some girls cried. Most girls chatted until it was their turn. I remember feeling a little scared as I approached the nurse. A little pin prick which was more like an insect bite and it was over.

Sure we could have taken Laura to see her paediatrician to get that done but then she wouldn't have had that experience in school :D

In case of emergency

Something happened today which got me thinking. At about 6.00pm this evening, the fire alarm in our condo block went off. The alarm going off isn't that unusual as the system is rather sensitive. This time, there was smell of smoke! PT and I stayed calm and thought we had better get out of our building. PT went out on the landing to see what the situation was. I made sure Adam stayed close to me while I went to get our important documents and some valuables. Then we calmly walked down the stairs to another block for safety. One of our neighbours had just got home. She rushed upstairs to get her younger daughter and helper down. The fire department was called and they took more than 10 minutes to arrive. There wasn't any fire. It turned out that one of the neighbours upstairs from us were burning newspaper which triggered off the alarm. This incident raised a few questions in me:

1. Why the FUCK was the guy burning newspaper in an apartment block? What was he thinking that dumbass! The BOMBA officers and some neighbours went to the guy's apartment to tell him off. Let's hope he won't do it again.

2. Are my important documents within easy access if we need to grab and run? Even though I have made sure our documents are kept in a safe place, I didn't manage to take all of our important documents. I had missed out my children's birth certificates! Now I make sure all important documents are together, within grabbing reach.

3. Will our helper know what to do if there was really an emergency? The fact that my neighbour's helper stayed indoors with her younger daughter made me realise we need a plan of action in emergencies. That is most important as both PT and I may not be home if and when there is an emergency.

4. How fast can the Bomba respond to a fire emergency? Took them almost 15 minutes to get to us. By which time, if there was a fire, a lot of units would have been burned.

After the incident, I went through with my helper what to do in an emergency. However, she needs to remember that the children's safety and her safety are the most important of all. Documentation and valuables can be replaced. Human life... NOT.