It didn’t come as a surprise to learn that the Movement Control Order is returning. For 2 weeks until January 26, 2021. And as expected, it’s less restrictive.
For the powers-that-be, it's an easy decision to arrive at; no thinking is required!
Anyway, I don't believe this MCO will work.
Last Friday, I was back in TTDI, Kuala Lumpur for a KEPENTAS meeting.
In case you’re wondering about this entity called KEPENTAS, it's actually Kelab Pidato Perdana Antarabangsa, where members do public speaking in Malay.
They were formerly referred to as KPP or Kelab Pidato Perdana. The name-change was a logical progression because they have expanded beyond Malaysia to three other countries, i.e. Brunei, Singapore and Indonesia. A very commendable achievement, if I may add.
There were only six of us – but it was still another learning opportunity for me. I know I definitely need to work on my Bahasa Melayu.
The question of whether online learning is really better than face-to-face learning is a longstanding debate.
Online learning used to primarily consist of a student going through reading modules, submitting assignments through e-mail, and/or watching pre-recorded lectures.
Interactive features today allow for the social element that face-to-face learning offers, such as through live video conference classes or virtual Q&A sessions.
With technology becoming so advanced – and the coronavirus pandemic shuttering campuses everywhere – online learning is standing out as the only option in many important ways.
For a start, it lets you learn at your own pace anywhere, anytime. It improves self-discipline. It saves time and money. It’s better for some personality types – introverted personalities come to mind. Online classes are more likely to present material in attention-grabbing, multimedia formats that may be better suited to today’s students. The online classroom is good preparation for a changing work environment – it makes you become comfortable with technology.
And as online learning continues to increase in popularity – we must also acknowledge the drawbacks associated with it. These include: E-Learning can cause social isolation; it lacks face-to-face communication; it requires strong self-motivation and time management skills; it is inaccessible to the computer illiterate population or where the internet infrastructure is lacking; there is lack of communicational skill development in online students; and online instructors tend to focus on theory rather than practice.
These issues often get cast aside in online discussions. After all, who would want to put the brakes on educational innovation?
Anyway, there's no doubt that indeed, we need to recognize that online learning has been generally well-accepted.
Therefore, it is pretty surprising that in progressive Canada, a poll of 2,700 people is not giving online learning an unanimous thumbs up.
Among faculty members, 76 percent said that online learning has "negatively impacted the quality of university education in Ontario", according to a survey released last month by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations. And among students, 62 percent agreed.
Rahul Sapra, president of the OCUFA, said that the results show a meaningful engagement between students and faculty is a fundamental part of the learning process.
“As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the scramble to move courses online, we have lost that human connection and educational quality has suffered”, Sapra said.
And so the debate continues!
Our first WSD 2021 promo video from Johor Bahru, Johore and clip #23 thus far:
That voice! She has an euphonious voice that carries a sassy lilt and yet there's a tender touch of charming brittleness to it too –a pairing that is delicately complex and yet, it combines well because the layered effect makes you sit up and pay attention.
Thank you, Stancylyn Tani Nila for your contribution –BTW, she's a member of Kelab Pidato Perdana Johor Bahru.
Malaysia’s Covid-19 reports always refer to clusters.
As at December 02, 2020, there are 183 active clusters reported nationwide. Of this number, thirteen (or 7.1%) have a positivity rate of more than 50 percent, which means that more than one out of two people tested in those 13 clusters are infected.
And three of those thirteen clusters are located in the Klang Valley (or what I refer to as the Greater KL Area) – one of which is the notorious Teratai cluster which is linked to glove manufacturer Top Glove Corporation.
It’s by far the largest cluster in Malaysia that reported 5,083 positive cases out of 6,609 people screened as of yesterday – yielding a whopping 76.9 per cent positivity rate!
The other two are the Awan Baru construction site and Perigi clusters.
The Awan Baru construction cluster was identified on November 28 and now the cluster has 428 Covid-19 cases, including two new cases on December 02.
The Perigi cluster was detected on November 09 and has a total of 689 cases.
The other ten clusters with above 50 percent positivity rates are located in Sabah that is still battling widespread coronavirus outbreaks.
FYI, the positivity rate of a cluster is pivotal to measure the current level of Covid-19 transmission in the community, and to identify if the Ministry of Health are conducting enough testing.
In case you don't know, Covid-19 clusters, as defined in Malaysia, can be as small as two persons – comprising the index case, the person first discovered with the virus in an outbreak, and a close contact.
And here’s the twentieth WSD 2021 promo video – this time, it’s from Ken Chan:
I have heard him speak and I daresay his speech – any speech for that matter – is always a performance that is slick, stylish and polished that I've come to expect.
He is best described as a person who lives to speak! Seriously! – He has memberships in 3 speaking clubs, i.e. World Speakers’ Coalition Kuala Lumpur, Kelab Pidato Perdana TTDI and Money Mastery Toastmasters Club.
In 1959, science fiction great Isaac Asimov (left) penned a delightful essay about the nature of creativity that was almost entirely unknown until 2014 when one of his old friends discovered it in a file and Technology Review had it published.
Today, I stumbled upon this same piece and published it in my blog.
From "On Creativity" by Isaac Asimov:
“A person willing to fly in the face of reason, authority, and common sense must be a person of considerable self-assurance. Since he occurs only rarely, he must seem eccentric (in at least that respect) to the rest of us. A person eccentric in one respect is often eccentric in others.
Consequently, the person who is most likely to get new ideas is a person of good background in the field of interest and one who is unconventional in his habits. (To be a crackpot is not, however, enough in itself).
Once you have the people you want, the next question is: Do you want to bring them together so that they may discuss the problem mutually, or should you inform each of the problem and allow them to work in isolation?
My feeling is that as far as creativity is concerned, isolation is required. The creative person is, in any case, continually working at it. His mind is shuffling his information at all times, even when he is not conscious of it. (The famous example of Kekule working out the structure of benzene in his sleep is well-known.)
The presence of others can only inhibit this process, since creation is embarrassing. For every new good idea you have, there are a hundred, ten thousand foolish ones, which you naturally do not care to display”.
I can admit here that I’m in total agreement.
Rohijas Md Sharif contributes this micro video which promotes World Speech Day 2021:
He's an experienced speaker – and a member of KPP Toastmasters Club, KL Advanced Toastmasters Club as well as Kelab Pidato Perdana Putrajaya.
Rohijas is a suave speaker who makes any speech stylish in a classy sort of way. It’s true – he brings grammatical structure and nuanced words into his speeches, giving them an edginess of elegance.
Italy surpassed the 1 million infections mark – becoming the tenth country to reach this milestone.
And of the countries with 100,000 or more cases, Ethiopia is the fifty-sixth country to join their ranks. Cumulatively, these countries account for 94.5% and 96.1% of global cases and deaths respectively.
Even with the surging cases, no country is likely to want to impose a total lockdown. Wary of crippling the economy and destroying jobs, governments are stressing the importance of hygiene, social distancing and targeted measures in affected areas instead.
Whether they want to formally acknowledge it or not – they are already learning to co-exist with Covid-19. That is today's reality.
A WSD 2021 promo video in Malay:
The 31-second clip was produced by Mohd Farhan Abd Latib who participated at the World Speech Day 2020 Penang event this March 15.
It was a smallish group that gathered at TTDI Kuala Lumpur on Friday for the Kelab Pidato Perdana meeting.
Anyway, KPP meetings have no bearing on attendance – so it doesn't matter. They’re more about learning and practicing which is what KPP are all about.
And slowly but surely, I am improving.
And Domino's Pizza this time around:
It’s lamentable to read that Barcelona have coerced Luis Suarez to leave the club. But his exit will not end his career – not by a long shot. In fact, his forced move to rival Atletico Madrid will surely benefit the latter. Immensely.
To me, nothing is going to change for the Uruguayan because he is a damn good footballer.
In his debut at his new club against Granada on Sunday – and despite only coming on in the 70th minute – he scored twice (85, 90+3) and set up another (72).
This week’s edition of World Speech Day 2021 posters that were released:
Yesterday was my third Kelab Pidato Perdana meeting – and again, as is always the practise, we all have to present our speeches. I did – and I’m keenly aware that I have to work harder on brushing up my vocabulary and learn how to use rhetorical devices more effectively. In Malay, of course.
Still, we all learn by doing and I am giving it a brave shot every time I go up in front to speak. Over time, I am sure I will improve.
The last time I was in Beijing, China was in July 2012.
Time flies because Beijing today is vastly different.
Indeed, China has changed so much that you’d be forgiven if you didn’t know that the above pic is that of the Beijing skyline.
I got too many things on my bucket list and China is one of them. I would dearly love to make a return visit to Beijing. And if I do get that opportunity, I want to also include these places: Qingdao, Shanghai, Ürümqi, Zhangjiajie, among other locations.
Yesterday’s Kelab Pidato Perdana meeting was particularly engrossing because we learned about “pantun” and how to craft it.
"Pantun" is a ‘poetic’ verse that often consists of a stanza of four lines with a rhyming “a-b-a-b” scheme. The first and second lines are figurative, i.e. they do not refer to the purpose or meaning (“pembayang” in Malay), while the last two contain the actual message (“makna”).
It’s traditional poetry, akin to haikus, sonnets, limericks and rhyming poems. As opposed to the free verse poem that obeys no rules whatsover.
At the meeting, I was an evaluator as well as one of the five speakers. And yes, we were required to incorporate a “pantun” into our speech. Believe me, it wasn’t a walk in the park – but I guess I managed to scrape through!
