daytime tv

Ok, so the nesting instinct has kicked in. I’ve washed and sorted out baby stuff and all, and this morning even scrubbed the toilet and kitchen floors. Earlier on I declared a war against clutter, and so now have bags of stuff to decide what to do with. How I wish holding a garage sale in Singapura is as easy as having one in Perth when you can just put up a put up signs everywhere saying ‘Garage Sale @ address @ 10am this Saturday’, bentang tikar in front of your house and your stuff will be cleared in 2-3 hours time. Kalau tak clear pun can give away to Good Sammy or Salvos for a worthy cause.

 

I’m under the impression that the flea markets here cater more to the young selling cool hip stuff for the young. Am I right? Either that or the old pros who’s been in business for a long time at Sungei Road. And I’m not very ebay/yahoo-selling savvy – don't think anyone would want to buy my old clothes/junk which are neither hip nor hold any appeal to anyone, I think. I’ll just put these at the Salvation Army collection point at Bt Timah I guess.

 

Daytime TV is pretty boring. Ellen is amusing. The audience are maniacs (why do they scream and jump up and down all the time?) and I used to wonder why she has that bit where she wriggles and dances her way up and down the audience aisle. But I guess she likes dancing and dia punya pasal lah, asal dia bahagia.

 

Tyra is a.n.n.o.y.i.n.g. Apart from being so wannabe and try-hard, she’s so unabashedly self-absorbed and fantasizes herself as some fairy godmother. It’s always ‘I’ and ‘my’ followed by cue: voice breaking, hands fanning face and audience going ‘awwwwww’ when she likens some sob story to her own ‘momma’ and sad childhood.

 

And then there’s Martha. aiyoh she’s so prim proper stiff. Give me Oprah and Nigella anytime.

 

But, but! This morning I saw a documentary on Malaysia’s Ch 9 about teachers posted in rural areas. They interviewed teachers from Peninsula Malaysia posted to obscure kawasan pendalaman in Sabah, Sarawak and the aborigine community in Pahang, Perak etc. We’re talking rural rural here, as in 4-5 hours from the main road/river kind of rural. The teachers are understandably mostly men, and they talked of their experiences adapting to that kind of environment. Some cross crocodile-infested rivers to and from school, some ride their motor kapchai up and down motocross-like dirt trails. And all the time maintaining their respectability and professionalism by wearing smart pants and shirts.

 

One teacher told of how sometimes he has to swim across the river, or stay overnight in school as the boat bocor or the water level is too high and dangerous or something. And how they cope without decent photocopiers and other things we take for granted. The govt equips each school with a LCD projector but it sits in the cupboard because the generator doesn’t generate enough electricity to run it. And there are no landlines – communication is via their own mobile phones, IF the reception happens to be good that day.

 

And yet they tackle their responsibilities with such gusto. Those in orang asli settlements learn about the culture and lifestyle of their anak didik to better work with the community. I remember reading once how teachers in rural Australian aboriginal communities found it hard to get their students to sit at their desks and pay attention until they realized the young abo kids preferred to sit in a circle on the floor as per their oral tradition.

 

Anyway, I salute these teachers. I doubt they get their generous bonuses and ‘connect plans’, or if they even get a decent monthly pay in the first place, but they totally embody the spirit and meaning of teaching. Insaf aku.