SYAZ's BRUNEI TRIP

My daughter Nur Syazwani is now in her 1st year studying in a local junior college . Ever since their secondary school won the Inter-School Bahas organized by Berita Harian last year, she has been very much into debates. Though this year, her school only managed to reach into the semi-finals of the recently concluded Bahas 4PM, Syazwani was lucky to be picked as one of the five debaters to represent Singapore in the annual Malay Bahas TITIAN MINDA 2007- a TV programme jointly organised by Radio Television Brunei & Mediacorp TV. The recording already took place in Brunei and is scheduled to be aired on SURIA channel in September 2007.

Haa.... Negara Brunei Darussalam!
Tu lah kat mana KakMon kita bermastautin..heheh....

Sebelum Syaz berangkat ke Brunei, sempat gak msg kat KakMon. Cakap kat beliau, oleh kerana kita belum berkesempatan berjumpa, saya antar anak saya jadi wakil jumpa KakMon...(boleh gitu??). Btw, KakMon, my daughter was so surprised you gave her so much things/food. She was sorry too for not able to spend more time with you as her schedule was very, very tight.

So, kat sini nak letaklah some pics of the kuih2 tersebut. Semuanya sedap2 belaka. Terima kasih bebanyak ye KakMon for the gifts. Maybe next time kalau saya kesana bolehlah mintak lagi yer!! So, here they are:




Yg ni terlalu cantik untuk dimakan tp apakan daya, dah mmg ianya tercipta utk dinikmati so.. ngappp lerr. Sedaappppp. I guess ini cokelat blueberry (betul tak kakmon?), sbb di dalam ada isian blueberry.

Brownie ni pun mmg sedap especially jika dimakan setelah didinginkan dalam fridge.



Kalau yg ni pulak, satu idea yg sgt kreatif- campuran kacang, ikan bilis, bijan dan gulungan kulit popia yg digoreng dan di gaul dgn sambal. Saya selalu jumpa jenis yg manis jer- yg ditabur dgn gula serbuk.


Ini pulak, I think is biskut suji. Dah rasa dah. Sedapp.....


Yg ni mesti betul nama kuihnya sbb saya baca kat containernya! Kuih SAPIT GULUNG KELADI. Kalau saya dok tgk perlawanan bola kat TV, agak2 satu bekas ni abis...... tak sisa!


And last but not least, ni buku Bagas Tangan BU APSAH (edisi cetakan semula) dgn tambahan resipi bonus!- langsung dari pengarangnya! In fact, tempohari, saya juga ada menerima senaskhah buku ini (cetakan pertama) dari Kak Siti yg baik hati dan yg telah bersusah payah memberikan kpd saya melalui pos, tempohari. Tuhan saja yg membalas kebaikan akak2 berdua ni yer!
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OK, back to the Bahas Titian Minda 2007 held in Brunei. Let me share a little story. The 5 debaters from Spore and 5 debaters from Brunei were divided into 2 groups. Actually the debate was more of a "presentation" and not a competitive one. Syaz was the team leader of her group with 3 Singaporeans and 2 Bruneians. She and Faris had contributed most during the discussions and preparation for the debate.
However, due to perhaps..the "short-sightedness" and the "simple-mindedness" of the teacher-advisor, Syaz was not chosen to be among the speakers fr the debate. The teacher-advisor flatly refused appeals from the other 2 Bruneians and Faris to pick Syaz as one of the debaters. A request by them for an audition to pick the 4 speakers fairly also did not move her. Even during the discussions, I was informed, she is one teacher who is not willing to think out of the box. She couldn't see eye to eye with most of the ideas during the discussions and most of the thing were a "no-no" to her. She said the selection and her decision was final.
Syaz was naturally down & disappointed (who would not be? after putting in so much effort & was then left out!) Anyway, during our overseas call to Syaz, we comforted her and advised her to think positive and do her best for the sake of the team. We tried to keep her spirits high- I guess it's easier said than done! Anyone would easily crumbled under those situations..
Anyway, to cut the story short; Syaz had the last laugh! Alhamdulillah, with the efforts put in by the other 3 debaters and Syaz herself (as the team leader, she was allowed to speak for 2 minutes to sum up her team's case), her team won the debate and the best speaker went to Faris-her team mate. Congratulations!!
What made it sweeter was that after her speech, she found out that there were voices in the audience expressing regret that she was not one of the 4 speakers. When the Challenge Trophy was to be presented to the winning team, being the team leader, Syaz was unanimously prompted by her team mates (except one) to step forward to receive it. It really made her day and perhaps a closure too.
Ironically, perhaps realising that she had made a pretty bad decision and was too shy to admit, the teacher-advisor DID NOT even come up to congratulate Faris, Syaz, or the team for a job well done!
The lessons which can be learned here are :
* Everyone make mistakes/errors. Don't be shy to admit when we have made a mistake. After all, we learn from our mistakes and try to do better the next time.
* With due respects to all teachers, the concept that teachers are always right and should not be questioned is a thing of the past. Learning is a two-way process and pro-active.
* Nowadays, we are encouraged to think out of the box in whatever things we do and not to restrict ourselves with stereo-type thinking. You will realise that many issues can be resolved when you actually think out of the box. Be objective too.
* Always think positive and look on the brighter side of things. God knows what's best for you.
No one is perfect but Alhamdulillah, with all these, we strive to be a better person, Insya'allah.



Siti Rafidah (Madrasah Al-Maarif), Abd Hakim (Ngee Ann Polytechnic), Muhd Rifdi (Madrasah Wak Tanjong), Faris (NJC) & Syaz (RJC)