非一般鸟窝

A comfortable bird nest for a tall bird, a short but perfect bird, a wooden bird and a cute little bird.

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

I think I told this story to wooen before. Just think it's great!!


A young woman went to her mother and told her about her horrible life and how things were so hard for her that she wanted to give up. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil for twenty minutes without saying a word. Then she fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. At the last pot, she ladled out the coffee into a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity ... boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. "Which are you?" she asked her daughter.

Think of this: Which am I?

Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a break-up, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavour. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level?

How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?



Being in a foreign country, we are like in hot water. I wonder how will everyone looks like after 4 years. Will we still look and act the same? I doubt. I have final tmr, so this is another pot of hot water. If I continue typing this.. I will become carrot.. bye bye! :D

痛心痛心!

刚才去了仁杰说的recom看一看关于spm和华文成绩的论坛。结果没看完就关了游览器,弄到现在的心情很复杂,很伤心,很无奈,很失望。一些拿不到A1的同学大声喧闹说华文是什么‘killer',是超级难考的科目,是害到他们失去了申请奖学金的机会得罪魁祸首。他们的心情我自然明瞭,不能把自己的希望达成,谁能不伤心呢?可是JPA的名单又还没公布,又何必自己心里紧张而将所有不满推到华文的身上呢?即使拿不到奖学金,华文也不是被骂的对象呀!拿不到奖学金,难道就没有出路了吗?难道世界就如此让人灰心吗?失去一个千载万逢的机会的确可恨,可是也必须面对人生和将来。没有奖学金,没有出国念书,难道将来就没出息吗?问题并不是出于华文,华文并不难,是教育制度将它给典型为考试的难关。想想看,如果英语或马来文的A水准也被设到那么高的话,扪心自问,被骂的,被奚落的,又何止是华文?华文,一个被千年文化孕育出来的精华,岂能被一个人生的其中一个考验而被侮辱呢?这实在令人发指!知道自己受不起打击,当初为何选考呢?而且还鼓吹‘不考华文’风。。妈的,你们比那些香蕉人还不如!(对不起,有点失控了。嘻!)

hu....it took me a long time do this,but i just want to express my feelings..well,i dun expect ppl to agree with me. it is just purely my personal opinion, no hard feelings..no prejustice.. :P

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

為華文科考生鳴不平

2004年SPM成績終於公佈,許多華裔考生在獲悉考獲幾乎全A1的興奮心情下驚悉本身蠻有把握考獲華文科 A1成績竟滑落至A2,影響了申請JPA獎學金的良機。隨即而來的是家長的指責聲,罵孩子為何選考華文,以致JPA獎學金泡湯;考生一臉的無奈與驚愕,不 相信自己只考獲A2,竟警告學弟、學妹千萬別選考華文;華文教師都在質疑有關當局的評分標準。本人更加驚愕,300名考生,只有3名獲A1,百餘名獲 A2。

翻閱報章報導,國文A1,也有10%,英文6.6%,為何華文只有1.2%?華裔考生應用了十多年華文功力竟然還不如英文成績?有 關當局華文組應向全體華 文科考生作一個明確的交代。你們虧欠了考生:第一,考試格式遲至2004年2月中才公佈,考生的準備時間不足;第二,考題中的名句精華竟然出現錯字,圖表 的資訊又含糊不清。既然這是考試局的錯誤,你們還提高A1的分數來打壓考生,公理何在?你們獲得ISO的標準規格又去了哪裡?

據本人學生 的回饋,超過90%以上考生都能在試卷(二)的客觀題獲得滿分,意謂著許多考生在試卷(二)上考獲90分以上,加上試卷(一)的分數,總平均都 在90分以上。考試局A1固打為1.2%,如此一推測,也就是考獲90分以下者全無資格獲A1。天呀!如果這推測準確的話,那麼大馬華裔考生在考華文科豈 不是人人都要成為語文天才,才有資格問鼎A1?

考試局華文組負責官員注意:你們必須為此向全體考華文科的學生作出澄清,向他們道歉,並還一個公道給他們。該給A1就給A1,別再為難莘莘學子了。

至 於尊貴的教育部長說全A生滑落了約30%,不知問題出在哪裡,必須專人研究。只要研究,華文一科其定分標準是否高到離譜,就知道原因何在。華基政黨必須 重視此次華文成績的影響力和所產生的殺傷力。全體考華文的考生家長們也應針對此課題發表意見,以達集思廣益之效,則幸甚矣!(作者為輔導中心講師)


星洲日報/言路‧作者:陳育坤‧2005/03/15


Source: http://www.sinchew-i.com/columns/index.phtml?sec=15&sdate=&artid=200503152071

Came across this commentary in Sin Chew Daily.
I fully agree with what the writer says. What's wrong with the marking system for SPM Chinese?
Each and every year, there have always been numerous cases where many chinese students fail to get A1 in Chinese, thus, they are disqualified to be straight A1 scorers and hence, being at a disadvantage when applying for scholarships.
I have known a lot of friends who are really good at Mandarin, but failed to get A1 in Chinese. In my batch, 4 friends of mine who were the representatives of Perlis in the Ujian Bertulis Bahasa Cina Peringkat Kebangsaan failed to get A1 in Chinese. Heck...their chinese command is among the best in my state, but what things turned out to be? An A2 in Chinese.
In 2003 batch, the same thing happened again. There were only 2 0r 3 students from my school got A1 in Chinese. The most recent bactch, from what I heard, only 2 managed to get A1 in Chinese. What's going wrong here???????
I really don't like such a situation. This will only discourage students to take Chinese in SPM, as the chance of getting an A1 is quite slim. Not being able to be a straight A1 scorer will definitely ruin the chances of getting scholarships....Many people will give up taking chinese by then...No no no...I can't imagine less and less students taking Chinese....Hey, this is our mother tongue, our language, our root.....NEVER GIVE UP TAKING CHINESE!!!!