di mana-mana pun sama

check out this report from yesterday's The West Australian:

New study shows half of young chalkies want out

31st January 2007, 6:45 WST

Almost
half of new teachers in WA plan to leave the profession within five
years because of heavy workloads and badly behaved students, according
to a new survey. 

An Australian Education Union study of 1299
teachers across Australia who had been teaching for between one and
three years found a quarter of them did not see themselves teaching in
five years.
  
Forty-three per cent of the 81 teachers
surveyed in WA planned to quit within five years, blaming behaviour
management, workload, class sizes and poor pay.
  
Nationwide, 40 per cent had changed professions to become teachers yet believed they would quit within 10 years.
  
About 80 per cent said they were not adequately trained to deal with parents or colleagues.
  
Nearly
39 per cent said they had no instruction or experience in classroom
behavioural management, while in WA and across Australia almost 70 per
cent of teachers had no training to deal with indigenous students.
  
AEU
president Pat Byrne said the growing level of discontent within the
education system would only compound the national teacher shortage. 

the story's the same here, i guess. the first 2 paragraphs just about sum up the situation in sg too. yours truly truly enjoyed the first 3.5 years and then by the fifth year she got burnt out.

enjoying the break now :)

anyway, back to the papers. it can be disconcerting reading the Letters section of the papers sometimes. it's of course, not la-la and sterile like the ST's Forum page. so whenever there's some issue on islamic radicalism you get letters pouring in - some level-headed ones speaking up against the branding and stereotyping, some reeking of insularity and jingoism (along the lines of 'Finally Islam has shown its true colours to the people of our great nation'). it makes me wonder; in my daily dealings here, how many people i come into contact with belong to the first group, and how many belong to the second.

ilhan and i went over to the Morley family centre and checked out the playgroup facility. the play area's huge, much bigger than the Noranda one, plus it's next to The Galleria (the major shopping centre) and the markets and everything. so i asked and called the lady in-charge, and Ilhan will be starting his playgroup sessions next week.

the ultimate in homesickness: when Ilhan asked "Ana mana?" and "Surya mana?"

for the uninitiated, these 2 are characters (Ana being Tamara Blezinsky, Baba's favourite too. bapak dgn anak sama) in the long-running (and long-viewer-suffering) indonesian sinetron Hikmah which played on Suria for last year. and of which Ilhan can't help watching memandangkan the trailers run every 10 minutes. and of course, nenek and ibu got hooked on it towards the end, despite hair-pulling exasperation over "eeeee....bodohnya si Ana ni....kenapalah dia biarkan orang bully dia macam tuuuuu!!!"

ya...so...Ilhan even memorises the Hikmah theme song, which he asks me to sing over and over again with him. so we know he's truly homesick when he's done asking about family and starts asking about hikmah characters. he gets his dose of Hikmah over Youtube now. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVh8b9SXbDk

The Waterfall That Wasn't

it was a searing 38 deg today. somehow the temperature always seems to soar towards the weekends, hitting 40 deg on saturdays and sundays. i made passable epok-epok ondok-ondok; the inti quite alright but the kulit not quite up to standard, since i can't quite make out nenek punya agak-agak measurement. ilhan pun tolong, and we used his botol susu in the absence of a rolling pin.


anyway, we decided to cool off by going off to a waterfall or something. chee minh suggested Lesmurdie Falls so we headed that way.

searing searing heat, and even before reacing Lesmurdie i've mentally transported myself to air terjun Gunung Ledang and the one at Gunung Pulai. waaaahhh....so nice and cool......

and so at around 3.30pm we reached there, the third car at the carpark. we hiked along the trail in the *together now...* searing heat and climbed some rocks and then we were there.

except there was no waterfall, since there's NO water, and you need water to fall in order to have a waterfall.

Air Terjun Lesmurdie kering kontang.


now how hilarious is that? can u just imagine kita bertiga, muka sunburnt merah padam, huffing and puffing and then tengok airTAKterjun.

somehow there were the tell-tale signs which i ignored along the way, cos i was so bent on getting to my air-terjun-gunung-ledang. like the brooks which were merely dry rocks (weren't they supposed to be cool gurgling brooks?) and the absence of the sound of water. ahaks!

salma...at that moment i would do anything to have our Bukit Timah mini waterfall!

oh how i miss my tropical rainforest environment where a dried-up waterfall is an impossibility.

so anyway, we headed to Scarborough Beach where we buried Baba, drew shapes and numbers in the sand (Ilhan's into shapes and the number 2) and let ourselves be bobbed about silly by the mighty Indian Ocean waves.

i was humbled by 2 lessons today - firstly, sometimes when Allah doesn't give you what you want, He gives you something better. also, the beauty of summer is that the sunny day stretches till maghrib at 8.20pm.

tomorrow's Australia Day and there'll be a mega skyworks extravaganza at night. i'll have to remind Ilhan to not go "ee-a-pore" (to him bendera, any bendera is 'ee-a-pore' complete with the 'We Are Singapore' tune) when he sees the Aussie flags flying around tomorrow.

a different world

i'm currently using this big bulky pentium 3 desktop running on a red hat Linux platform. it's The Husband's tinker-around-and-practise pc. i must say this Linux platform is rather interesting. i read somewhere about the 19-yr old whizkid who came up with it. genius. and it's free.

for Maal Hijrah we went to Al-Hidayah Mosque in Hepburn, the masjid melayu. very nice and well-maintained. ilhan made friends with 2 makciks over his Power Rangers and 'A New House for Mouse' book. i was observing the naturalised makciks there, some probably nenek's age and who have been there for decades and i wonder how they did it. don't they miss home and things familiar?

ilhan lost Zee, his yellow Power Ranger somewhere in the Freo market on Sunday. i was more sad than mad cos Angah gave it to him. that night he called Angah and told her the news in his tak-bersalah voice. and added that she could buy him a new one plus the pink one, Syd. and 'Power Ranger jahat' if she's feeling a bit generous. haha.

TV's really boring these days. kalau tak tennis on Australian Open, cricket. there's some cricket fever going on with the neighbours' kids batting and bowling on their lawns. i'm trying to understand cricket from The Husband, which Ayah knows inside out, by the way. He grew up at the Singapore Cricket Club and as a boy played the occasional game with the mat sallehs when they were short of people. very colonial game, this one.

yesterday was spent running around and confirming that my options are pretty much limited given the circumstances. first of all, i'm a malay language teacher, and it's not exactly a staple around here. i thought of perhaps doing malay tuition for malay kids here, but from the looks of it, i get the feeling that losing command of the mother tongue (malay) is not really an issue with most malay parents here. a different picture from Bilingual Families Perth, this community-initiated group whom i'm getting to know. they expound the benefits of bilingualism and are full of resources to help parents go in that direction. there are Kidz Language Clubs in lots of languages - Europeans, East Asian, Indian - except Malay. sad huh.

ok, so anyway, my lack of skills in any other employable sector is glaring, and no, i'm not really a childcare person (anak sendiri boleh leh) and neither am i a good cook (we'll get to that in a while). how i wish i'm a doctor/nurse/graphic designer/physioptherapist/podiatrist/chirocpractor etc, then finding a niche is so easy here. so yeah, i was looking thru the TAFE prospectus (their version of the polytechnic) and was looking into some courses which somehow appeals to me.

i was seriously considering getting accreditation as a translator/interpreter from NAATI (the national body) and went to their office and then the unfriendly lady told me 9/10 people fail their test (which cost about $400 by the way). she said they are testing for skills, not bilingualism, and i thought, "OK...so maybe i need to get the skills first". so i went to TAFE and asked about this Diploma in Interpeting, and *dang*...the languages that they're offering this year are Burmese, Thai and African languages. since my Thai is more for bargaining and small talk, and i speak neither Burmese nor Afrikaan, there goes my option.

and then i saw this Diploma in Library Services but it's 2 yrs full-time. i might as well take up a masters or something given the time-frame. and i can't just yet cos only one of us can afford to study at a time, and besides, i can't really work cos then i'll have to spend a bomb on childcare. and so 2007 shall be a year of discovery and learning for both me and ilhan.

i signed up for the IELTS english test just now, a must if i want to get my teaching qualifications accredited. the test and the accreditation both cost a huge bomb, and i have to ace it. i'm a little annoyed, though, at this IELTS requirement. it's complusory for anyone who doesnt come from Australia, UK, US, NZ (dan kawasan mat saleh yg sewaktu dengannya). the academic one that i'm taking is something like A Level GP. the application form asks how many years have i 'been learning the English Language'. amusing, since you need to just open the newspapers classified section to see that the aussies are the ones who can't even spiel porperley.

ok, enough about that. i've contacted a Muslim playgroup recommended by the Muslim Women's Support Committee, and i think we'll join them for a trip to the Zoo on Thursday. Interestingly, on his own Ilhan is attempting to speak in English. it sounds pretty much gibberish except for the recognisable word here and there eg " An-an shsheJUMPshezshezheWATERkdjnkdSWIMMING!" very commendable. among his more successful attempts are "What time Power Ranger?", "Are you monster? I Power Ranger!" , "Are you ok, Baba?" and "Wake up Baba!". we now go on 70-30 malay-english.

on the domestic front, i'm proud to say that the cooking's going pretty well. let me first admit that i'm not the greatest cook, and i've not cooked meals for quite sometime, so i warned The Husband that the first few times might be a hair-raising experience. hence i would like to express my admiration and gratitude for his support and diplomacy about the terlebih cili-terkurang itu/ini for the past week. Ilhan's the best - makan tambah 2-3 kali and he never fails to say dengan muka-muka sekali dan mata tutup-tutup "Mmmm...SUdapnyaaa!!" i love my son! hee hee hee!

Hillarys Harbour

he actually looked at the camera and smiled. very rare, i tell you!

An unplanned trip and an unplanned dip in the sea. nasib baik bawa baju extra.

First 10 Days in Perth

Ilhan woke up after a 4-hr nap and caught up on Nickelodeon shows while munching on his First Class cheese and crackers.

Some photos chronicling our first few days here, and the house taking semblance of a home after the unpacking, shopping, assembling, cooking and living in.

Step 2

we went to Hillarys Harbour at Sorrento Beach just now. didn't plan to actually. the original plan was to check out this Fairy Picnic at Wanneroo, but it was packed with sweet little girls in tutus and fairy costumes (ok, so it was a fairy picnic after all) and Ilhan fell asleep on the way plus it was really HOT so we made a detour and headed to Hillarys. nice and sunny with lots of kids swiming and Ilhan went "Yay yay an-an nak swim! yay yay an-an nak swim!" so uhm..thank goodness for the extra set of clothes i happened to stuff in the bag today. more pics will be uploaded.

singgah kat Good Sammy (a charity second-hand store) to look for a bookshelf, and found a $25 training bicycle (with the 2 extra wheels) for Ilhan. he can't cycle yet, but he looks ready and excited to. got some plates for $2 each.

so now that we are more or less physically settled in, i got to start looking into Ilhan's social environment. checked out the Noranda Family Centre nearby and got heaps of info. it's really different here; very community-initiated and so many groups and resources dedicated to families and children.

so here i am, armed with numbers of contact persons for playgroups and toy libraries and uhm...telling myself i'll call them tomorrow. you see, i think i have mat-sallehphobia. i..uhm..dread talking to them. even mat salleh colleagues in school i sort of did not interact much with (with the exception of Osgodby). why? i'm not sure why! maybe it's because i feel so different or i've no idea what to talk to them about or i've this feeling they'll have problems understanding me. the latter probably stems from the 'Qantas Experience' when i had to repeat myself a few times to a pekak-badak stewardess who looked at me like i was an idiot speaking gibberish. i speak perfectly well, thank you. if there's anything wrong, it's the Aussie twang yang aku tak faham.

ok..ok...totally irrational i know. i have to get over it.

on a separate note, why oh why must there be Muslims here who make life potentially difficult for the rest of us. like Al-Hilaly with his latest gaffes over Egyptian tv and very recently a bearded youth leader. now we all fear reprisals against the Muslim community, especially women who wear the veil and may be subject to verbal and physical harassment.

hey! guess what's playing over SBS channel now? a singapore chinese/english movie starring james lye and aaron kwok and phyllis quek. some cure for homesickness.

 

 

 

I Left on a Jetplane

 

g'day mates! finally got our internet up and running at 11.44pm just now.

yea, now kamidisini is officially kamidisini. touched down in perth on monday 8 january 2006.

yea..the last few weeks have been madness - running around doing last min things like a headless chicken. a quick sum up:

1) went for a quick a'famosa holiday with the in-laws. that place badly needs sprucing up. the flood was bad, and we saw a crocodile floating dead on a road in Bandar Hilir. that was cool. Ilhan developed Hazmin-phobia. the 18-mth old cousin's a biter :P

2) splurged on a night's stay at the Ritz Carlton Millenia, sort of an anniversary-birthday treat to myself. i figured since i'll be jobless in 5 days' time, bila lagi lah kan. and it's got to be The Ritz.

3) i am unemployed as of 31st December 2006. boy, that's scary.

4) everyone came down with stomach flu starting with Ilhan.

had a couple of hurried aufwiedersehens, and missed some. Marina and Nani, sorry couldn't find time anywhere, and thanks heaps for the luxurious scents.

spent as much time as possible with the family. The Husband installed webcams on both grandparents' pc to facilitate communication. booked Qantas monday morning flights as they're much cheaper and oh god it seemed so final.

the day came and last bag count: 5 huge ones. excess baggage of 27 kgs and had to send one as unaccompanied baggage ($350+ and it came 2 days later). not much drama at the airport; felt sad that MIL had a tyrant of a principal and couldn't masuk sekolah lambat, so she couldnt send us off. ilhan was sleepy since he slept at 2am and got up at 6am that morning so he wasnt into goodbyes either. it all just seem so surreal to me. had to swallow that painful lump in my throat as i waved goodbye to mak, ayah, atok, nenek, aai, aril, bapak.

and oh, the drama came from my kids. thanks salihin and ahmad fpr coming all the way, and to Hazi and The Boys who ran across the departure hall only to miss me by minutes. very Korean drama serial. i love you all.

in the plane Ilhan fell asleep even before the plane took off and only woke up famished 4hrs later. he missed his meal, and the stewardess I'll-see-what-I-can-do got Ilhan some Carr's crackers and gourmet cheese from 1st Class. he makan dengan sedapnya.

touched down, passed thru customs, and our santan got detained, but the rest of the kuah kacang and instant stuff got thru alhamdullillah (thanks Nek Sarah!). scrambled to buy some stuff before stores close at 5pm (we had an hour), got our keys from Chee Minh and ta-da...got into our new home. it's totally empty save for a cooker hob. we slept on the floor that night.

the next few days were spent buying stuff. IKEA had a sale, so got some stuff from there. yeah cheap, but we always forgot about the assmeble-it-yourself bit (oh..Australia's the land of DIY by the way). our bed took an excruciating 2 days to assemble cos they forgot to inckude some screws and holes on the wooden planks. bummer. got a fridge for $399, and decided not to get a washing machine - we opted for the $3-weekly trip to the laundromat.

got a small courtyard. the past 2 summer days have been a sizzling 40-41 deg celsius, and we blew up a small inflatable pool for Ilhan for him to take a dip with his Power Rangers and Justirisers and elephant and turkey. he loves it. we have a small garden out front too, but i realise i know zilch about gardening so that would have to wait.

made some friends. had dinner at a singaporean migrant family's home at Kinross. nice house. good food. while at Mirrabooka Square was approached by a cleaning lady who turned out to be from Sarawak. husband's doing PhD at ECU and she invited me for her daughters' birthday party on sunday. except i heard wrongly and Sunday was actually Saturday and we turned up a day late. but that's fine cos we spent 2 nice hours at their place over dinner. Kak Ayu's really nice and genuine. and a superb cook too.

and oh...Ilhan's bored thru his nose i think. he's been a really great kid, going aroung with us doing adult things like shopping. and he's so conscientious about his newly-bought car-seat and the strict seat-belt rule. and he's so faithful to his Bob the Builder tentera-Jepun cap (with the flaps to keep out the sunrays) and his sunnies.

he's also been asking heartbbreaking questions like "Mana nenek/atok/icu/maman/maman pais/angah/bibik/Cik Ani/abang tam/ChiChi?" i need to find him a playgroup soon. and i need to learn how to make epok-epok ondok-ondok (Ilhan's very into Kata Ganda now, and 'ondok-ondok' is his favourite made-up meaningless word he adds to almost everything) since it's his current fav food and it's freaking $1.50 each at the shops.

that's all so far. i miss home and everyone...boo hoo hoo...

it's 1.31am now. would love to catch-up on everyone's multiply but too sleepy. will do that soon.