Why Do All Good Things Come To An End?

Blogging for EDU 3217.

Like what I’ve mentioned in my first post, I’ve had experience in blogging - I keep a personal blog. However, blogging for personal purposes differs from blogging for academic purposes. My personal blog is like my personal journal, presenting my daily life and thoughts. I get to talk and share anything and everything that I want and best of all, I get to vent my anger or frustrations there.

On the other hand, blogging for academic purposes is a completely different thing altogether. I find it beneficial in a way that it enables me to reflect on my learning experience. I mean, come on. How many people would actually take the time to sit down and really think or reflect on what they have done or learnt? Most of us are too preoccupied with other things to actually reflect on what we have learnt. Thus, blogging enables me to actually sit down and critically think about what I have learnt or gained through lectures and tutorials then put these thoughts into words.

If I were to choose between blogging and commenting on forums, I will definitely choose blogging. It requires effort to create and maintain a blog, and that is what makes it more special (though some might find it a chore). The effort that goes into editing the blog layout as well as the blogskin to make it more attractive makes me appreciate blogging even more. I get to personalize my own blog, upload photos, songs, videos, as well as interesting links and this makes blogging more fun than commenting on forums.

“There are changes that have made life more fascinating. Technology and the Internet, for instance. They have made our lives as teachers so much more exciting! We can do things we never dreamed of before. How quickly we connect! How small the world has become. We are no longer the centre of our students’ learning. We are now just one of the sources of our learners’ knowledge. In fact, we are in competiton with the outside world to keep our learners’ in our classes. We must make it worthwhile for them to attend our classes.”

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Malachi Edwin Vethamani

The role of blogs has become increasingly mainstream, as tools for outreach and opinion forming. I strongly believe that it is only wise for us future teachers as well as current teachers to equip themselves with this skill in order to keep up with the growing trend. No student would want an ancient, out-of-date dinosaur as their teacher, would they?

Self-reflection is the school of wisdom.

Baltasar Gracian
Spanish Writer and Jesuit
The Art of Wordly Wisdom

‘Tis time to… REFLECT THY MICRO TEACHING!

Finally it’s over. *breathes sigh of relief* I’m pretty sure my tutor, Mr. Harold is also glad that it is over, too. It must’ve felt like hell for him to endure and evaluate our micro teaching :P

My favourite part of micro teaching has got to be the set induction stage. This is where everyone gets to be creative and come up with fun and interesting activities to initiate the students’ schemata.

This time’s micro teaching taught me a lot on the do’s and don’ts when it comes to teaching. One of them was related to the selection of the kinds of materials that are appropriate for students. One of my coursemate chose a song as an aid for his set induction activity. However, the lyric to the song he chose contained vulgar words which I thought was not appropriate if he was teaching school students. I learned that choosing the right kind of material is very important. As a teacher trainee, I must always bear in mind that the students whom I will teach will be secondary school students and the materials that I choose must be appropriate for their viewing. Through my own observation, I also learned that variety in teaching materials is also important. For this time’s micro teaching, I noticed a lot of similarities in terms of the types of materials and concepts among my coursemates’ micro teaching. On a brighter note, I learned new ways to carry out the pre-reading and while reading activities. For example, some of my coursemates asked the students to role-play and draw pictures. Some asked students to create picture or word cards to present their answers. Though time-consuming, such hands-on activities can be fun for students. Evaluating my peers enabled me to improve my analytical and critical skills which will come in handy once I become a teacher.

I agree that micro teaching is important for us teacher trainees to prepare us for our role in the future. We get to practice our teaching and learn the many ways and approaches to teaching. Through this experience, I learned the many ways of controlling the class and getting students’ attention. Through my peers’ evaluations, I learned my strengths and weaknesses which I did not realize myself. By taking note of their comments and feedback, I can slowly improve myself. Micro teaching should be carried out more often. After all, practice makes perfect. And that will make practice will make us better teachers!

Sequel to the Set Induction

Pre-Reading.

I made up my mind to teach one of the themes of the play I chose. Mr. Harold mentioned that he wanted to see variety in our micro teaching. I figured that most of my coursemates will be doing on characters (and my prediction was right), so I chose to do on the theme instead.

For my pre-reading activity, I selected two extracts from the play The Ring by Vincent Jeremiah Edwin. Extract A is about Raj who cuts his arm with a razor to feed Leila and Extract B is the part where Raj’s mother approached him about his condition and expresses her intentions to take him to the doctor. I chose these two extracts because I wanted to show the students about Raj’s inability to differentiate between illusion and reality which is the theme that I chose to teach.

For the activity, I distributed printed handouts of the extracts to the students and briefed them on what they are supposed to do. I assigned them to highlight the characters in the extracts and then underline words, phrases or sentences of the things that they do. The purpose of this activity is to guide students to identify the theme through the portrayal of the characters in their speech or actions. Before I ended the pre-reading stage, I discussed the answers with the students to ensure that they are on the right track and that they understood what I was teaching.

I believe that the length of the extracts that I chose were appropriate and not too lengthy. The task was within the students’ ability because they could attempt the task without problems. My instructions were loud and clear and I chose to use simple language to instruct. The task which I assigned the students was also student-centered and I checked if they understood what was being taught by asking them questions.

While Reading.

For my while reading activity, I designed several questions for students to attempt. These questions were then printed as worksheets which were distributed to the students. The questions that I designed were based on the extracts and activity carried out earlier during the pre-reading stage. I designed my questions in a manner that will lead students towards the identifying the theme that I wanted to teach.

I believe that the questions that I designed were appropriate and within the students’ ability. The task which I assigned the students was also related to the pre-reading stage earlier. I believe that the task was well-connected since I sequenced the questions in a manner that would direct students towards the theme that I wanted to teach. The task was also student-centered.

In my opinion, both my pre-reading and while reading activities were different from what I was taught in school. Back then, my teacher would get us students to read the selected literary text without assigning us any tasks. Instead, she would spoon-feed us with the important elements related to the text. All we had to do was read the text aloud and then answer the comprehension questions that came along with it. Mine required the students to identify a few elements in the extracts that I have chosen on their own. Then, they were required to answer the comprehension questions which were connected to the previous activity I assigned them.

I found my strength to be my loud and clear voice projection as well as my clear and straightforward instructions. I noticed this when I asked the students seated behind the class if they could hear me and their answered in the positive. I also noticed this through my peers’ feedback and evaluation.

As for my weakness, I remained static throughout the entire activity. The layout of the lecture hall refrained me from walking around to facilitate students. Therefore, I lacked physical interaction with my students. In order to overcome this problem, I used interactive language by asking students questions and also their feedback.

If I were to deliver my lesson again, I will definitely choose to do it differently. For instance, I would include other teaching materials such as manila cards or word cards for students to use to present their answers. I believe that students will find the lesson more fun and interesting if they get to do hands-on activity.

In a nutshell, my pre-reading and while reading stage for my micro teaching went on smoothly though there were instances where I could improve on in the future. However, I wished that the lecturer or tutor would suggest or introduce other types of activities for pre-reading so that there would be variety instead of the usual use of extracts.

I cannot believe I have met Kee Thuan Chye and even shook hands with him!

Yes. Like my shoutout in Facebook, I cannot believe I have met Kee Thuan Chye and even shook hands with him. Many would think “So what?”, “Big deal!”, “Cheh, Malaysian playwright only, ma!”. Let me tell you this. He is not just a Malaysian playwright. He is THE Malaysian playwright. And oh, not just a playwright alright! He’s an actor. He’s an author. He’s a journalist. He’s a columnist. Take that!

To be honest, I never liked politics. It is downright dirty. It is corrupt. Enough said. I’d better keep my mouth shut and my opinions to myself or I’ll end up being detained by the ISA. Whenever I read the news, I choose not the read anything related to politics. It bores me to death. It disgusts me. Except when there is sex scandals involved. That, I like.

Alright, back to the topic. Kee is a humble man, albeit full of wit and wisdom. A man who is so passionate in what he does. And I salute him for his balls, his biting sarcasm and caustic criticisms in his writings. Darn! I should have Wiki-ed him earlier. Then, I could have answered his question and win the book he was giving away. I did google him up but I forgot to check out his works. I even watched the video of Kee’s interview by The Edge, which Dr. Edwin recommended. What caught my eye in the interview was Kee’s decision to name his children Jebat Arjuna and Soraya Sunitra. He revealed that it was his contribution to Bangsa Malaysia. The answer to the question which he asked us students was - The Situation of the Man who stabbed a Dummy or a Woman and was disarmed by the Members of the Club for a Reason Yet Obscure, If There Was One. A ridiculously long and difficult name to remember for a play, if you ask me. Taught me a lesson there – always perform a thorough research prior to meeting someone.

I’ve watched him act on Kopitiam, Anna and the King, read his poem A Figure Not Forgotten In Hours Not-Of-Need, his short story A Sense of Home, as well as his play The Swordfish, Then The Concubine. I loved all of them. His play, The Swordfish, Then The Concubine made me realize that drama is not just a form of entertainment, but also an intellectual activity. The issues he highlighted in the play are sociopolitical comments about what is happening in contemporary Malaysia. And the approach he used to highlight these issues challenges one’s intellect.

Indeed, the session with Kee was very awe-inspiring. He is definitely one of those few people who managed to teach me a thing or two about the importance of being truly passionate in what we do, that we should practice what we preach, and not just pay a lot of lip service to it. Mr. Kee, thank you for taking some time out from your busy schedule to meet us students when you could have used it to take some rest. And to Dr. Edwin, thank you for making it possible.





p/s: An error occurred when I was transferring the video of Kee reading from his book, March 8: The Day Malaysia Woke Up into my computer. By the time I discovered it, I have already deleted all the files from my camera! Grrr...

Film Adaptations

For the past three weeks or so, my coursemates and I have been watching film adaptations of plays as a part of EDU 3217. So far, we have only watched four plays, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Oedipus Rex, Roman Polanski’s version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth as well as King Lear. I enjoyed these sessions very much though I find the film adaptation of Macbeth and Oedipus Rex lacking oomph. I hate to admit it, but I find this version of Macbeth a tad too boring for my liking. I have watched another version of it and found it to be more interesting. The visual quality for Oedipus Rex was poor so I had trouble making sense of the visuals shown. I enjoyed both Elizabeth: The Golden Age as well as King Lear tremendously.











I find it beneficial though, since watching these films actually help me make sense of what theatre is all about. Watching these film adaptations give me a better understanding of the historical, geographical and social setting, as well as the characters and other elements of the plays. It also gives me an idea of how the play should be enacted. In fact, I had my King Lear text with me which I read silently in-sync with the film. I also find these film sessions beneficial for students with visual-spatial learning styles. Studies have shown that students learn more when they are exposed to audio and visual materials apart from texts. Using films in literature lessons is an added advantage since it enables students to evaluate verbal and non-verbal clues in the film as well as pay attention to the details.

If I were to teach literature in school, I will definitely encourage my students to watch film adaptations of the text which they will learn. I believe that it will give them a different perspective and attitude that learning literature can be cool and fun after all!

Set Induction

Micro teaching is here again to haunt me. The pressure and the need to live up to the lecturer and tutor’s expectations can be insane sometimes. Moreover, there are three micro teachings this semester, compared to only one for the previous semester.

For my micro teaching for EDU 3217, I chose to teach the play The Ring by Vincent Jeremiah Edwin. My initial choice was Macbeth, but I decided not to do it in the end because I was afraid that I might face difficulties in setting questions and activities for the pre-reading and while reading stage.

For my set induction, I designed my own video. The first part of the video consisted of a few questions for students to ponder to initiate their schemata. One of them was to imagine what a female demon would look like. It was then followed by a series of pictures of female demons. Next, I showed them a video clip from a British TV programme, Demons. After showing them the video, I asked them a few questions –

• Describe the main female character in the video clip. What does she do? How does she look like?
• How was the main female character in the video clipping similar or different from the pictures shown earlier?
• Was the main female character in the video clipping similar or different from what they visualized a female demon would be?

I ended the set induction stage by introducing them to the play that will be taught. The feedback I got from the tutor was that I did not discuss the questions with the students. He mentioned that I should have asked the students questions and get them to discuss about their opinions regarding the issues brought up. He also commented that I need not ask students questions in the exact format as the procedure I submitted for his reference. He advised me to paraphrase my questions again to make them sound less formal.

To be honest, I was disappointed with the set induction activities this time round. Everyone took into account of the tutor and lecturer’s suggestion to use songs and videos, thus they incorporated these into their set induction. As a result, most of them had similar set induction activities (same pictures, same videos, same concept) which made the whole process a complete bore. In addition to that, everyone chose to do the same play hence the similarity in their set induction activities.

I have definitely learned a lot of new things from this experience. For instance, though I have planned my micro teaching and revised it over and over again to avoid mistakes, the tutor has identified my weaknesses which I did not realize myself. It teaches me that careful planning doesn’t necessarily produce good results. It also teaches me to vary the teaching aids I use to make the lesson interesting and impressive. I will bear this in mind and learn from my mistakes and weaknesses and try to improve myself for the pre-reading and while reading stage.

My First Taste of Live Musical, and soon, Theatre!

Puteri Gunung Ledang The Musical was my first taste of a live musical. It was structured along the lines of a traditional Broadway or West End musical with scenes of spoken dramatic dialogue, punctuated with songs highlighting the emotional moments and dance sequences adding spectacle and excitement to the narrative. Since it was my first time, I found it A-W-E-S-O-M-E! What amazed me was the set design and art direction – the stone friezes and the intricate wood carvings were so versatile! All they did was switch the position of the props and a different place and atmosphere was created!









Truth be told, I had initially thought that it was a theatre but Dr. Edwin told the class that it was not a theatre but a musical instead. So, I went online to search for plays that will be staged in KL and found one entitled The Madman’s Diary which will be staged at KLPAC on the 9th-12th of April. Unfortunately, my coursemates and I will only watch the play after the submission date for the blog assignment. Thus, I will not be able to blog about my experience watching a play. However, I will blog on a brief synopsis of what The Madman’s Diary is about.

The Madman’s Diary is part of KLPAC’s Australia Month programme. The Madman’s Diary is actually one of the best works by Russian writer Nikolai Gogol and sits amongst some of the most important works of world literature. It certainly bears the trademarks of Gogol's writings where a perfectly ideal world is turned upside down by a single event or action. This performance of Gogol's short story is an electrifying international collaboration that brings together two remarkable Australians - director Joe Hasham and actor Will Gluth.



Originally set in 1840's Russia, it has been transported to a contemporary setting. The story centres on the life of a low-ranking civil servant who yearns to be noticed by a beautiful woman, the daughter of a senior official. His diary records his gradual slide into insanity. As his madness deepens, he begins to suspect two dogs are having a love affair and subsequently declares himself to be the King of a certain kingdom. The story satirizes the rampant petty officialdom of the bureaucracy in the 1840s in St. Petersburg, and has been interpreted by some as going beyond this to being an allegory about the political state of Russia at the time, revealing writer Nikolai Gogol's view of the government from the standpoint of a lowly citizen.


I can’t help but feel excited to watch this play. I hope that it will turn out to be as good as I expect it to be and that it will not be a let-down. The Madman’s Diary, April 9th, 8.30 p.m. @ KLPAC – here I come!

A Case Of Mistaken Identity

Writing has never been my passion. I used to dread completing writing tasks since young. One part of it is because I lacked the creativity to make my writing appealing and interesting for the intended audience. Though I love reading, I could never seem to put my ideas or thoughts about what I have read into words or writing.

When it came to writing a one-act play for EDU 3217, coming out with an idea or issue for the assignment was not an easy task. There was a lot of brainstorming among my group members - Cynthia, Hui Yi and I, but most ideas were rejected because we did not want to create a play that is too clichéd. After much contemplation, we chose to write a tragicomedy, since it was something we had just learnt during lecture.

Writers of The Mole
From left to right: Samantha Yong, Cynthia Dorhat, Kong Hui Yi

So here it goes. We named the play, The Mole, after the main character in the play. It is about a case of mistaken identity. It revolves around a school boy who is involved in a notorious gang in his school. Out of loyalty towards the brotherhood, he promised to fulfill the gang leader’s wish of revenge on another school boy who provoked him. However, things went awry when the school boy unintentionally killed the wrong person. To make matters worse, he managed to escape while his friend had to bear the blame. As time goes by, his guilt eats him alive. He believes he sees the ghost of the victim coming back to haunt him. Worried, his mother brought him to see a shaman, thinking that her son was possessed by an evil spirit. However, the play ends with the tragic death of the boy who was knocked down by a car whose driver actually resembles the victim the boy killed!

I must say, writing the play has been a fun and interesting experience, though for most of it, all we did was string our crazy ideas into a play. It enables us teacher trainees to pour our creative juices (that is if we have any) and train ourselves to become better writers and teachers.

Who knows? Maybe one day this play will become famous. Then, I'll get PCK or Enrique to play the main character.

PCK and his trademark mole

Enrique Iglesias

Nah, just kidding :P

The Blind Seer

Teiresias is the son of Eueres and a nymph named Chariclo. He was blind in both eyes. The mythographic compendium Bibliotheke, stated that different versions of stories were told of the cause of his blindness. One of them was told by a poet named Pherecydes which was followed in Callimachus’ poem The Bathing of Pallas. This version tells that Teiresias was blinded in both eyes because he stumbled onto goddess Athena bathing naked. Teiresias’ mother, Chariclo, besought Athena to undo her curse, but Athena could not. Instead, she bestowed upon him the gift of augury and a cherrywood staff with which he could walk like those who have their sight. Another version tells that Teiresias saw two snakes mating and hit them with a stick. Hera was not pleased, thus she changed Teiresias into a woman as a punishment. Seven years later, Teiresias came across another two snakes that were mating and hit them with a stick. This undid the punishment and Teiresias was change into a man again. The third version tells that Teiresias was drawn into an argument between Zeus and Hera. He was asked whether the male or the female had more pleasure in sex. Since Teiresias had experienced both, he revealed woman’s greatest secret – that the woman receives greater pleasure. This angered Hera so she blinded him as a punishment. Zeus failed to stop Hera, thus, he gave Teiresias the gift of foresight and a lifespan of seven years.

In Greek literature, Teiresias’ pronouncements were always clever and wise but never wrong. However, like most oracles, Teiresias was always reluctant to reveal his visions. Because Teiresias was a great seer, he became very useful to authors and was much invoked in their works.

The Chinese Lion Dance

The Chinese lion dance goes back some one thousand years. There are two different types of lion dance – the northern lion dance, and the southern lion dance. For some unknown reason, the Southern lion dance is more common in Malaysia.

Both versions consist of 2 performers for each lion, and most performances are done in pairs. The difference between the two lies in the lion’s appearance and the dance and accompanying music. The northern lion dance was used as entertainment for the imperial court and is more popular in the northern parts of China. The northern lion’s head is usually golden in colour and shaped like a lion and has horns and a long snout. It is usually red, orange, or yellow in colour and shaggy in appearance. The northern lion dance is acrobatic and normally performed for entertainment purposes. The northern lion dance makes use of its prancing legs in the dance. The southern lion dance, on the other hand, is much more elegant. It is performed to rid off evil spirits and to summon good luck and fortune. The southern lion is more vibrant in colour. Its head is shaped more like a dragon’s, with large eyes, a mirror on the forehead, and a single horn. Unlike the northern lion, the southern lion makes dramatic head thrusts to the accompanying music. Performers of the southern lion dance usually have martial arts background due to the dance’s higher physical demands.

A proper lion dance is always accompanied by at least 3 Chinese percussion instruments: the drum, gong, and cymbals. The loud music is commonly followed by firecrackers which is a distinctive feature on Chinese festivals and joyous occasions. There will be a scene in the dance where the lion is required to “eat” the lettuce/mandarin oranges/pomelo served. The lion will carefully approach the food to make sure that it is edible or it is not an explosive. Then, it will pick up the food and “chew” it and scatter it all over to spread the prosperity.

Lion dances do not come cheap. The troop will usually set a minimum amount of payment, but the payer can opt to pay more since it is believed that the more generous the payment, the more good luck or prosperity the payer will receive. During the Chinese Lunar New Year, charges vary according to the day of the performance. For example, the price charged for a lion dance performance on the 1st day of the Lunar New Year is higher compared to the 2nd day. Charges also depend on the troop’s experience, number of performers and lions, as well as the stunts requested.

Through my observation all these years, I am glad that I can say that the lion dance is a living art form and that I do not see it losing its value in the near future. This is because there are many from the younger generation taking part since it has been commercialized. The fact that the lion dance symbolizes good luck and prosperity also plays a role in its popularity. However, it is a sad thing to see that this traditional art form has become too commercialized. Over the recent years, the charges of lion dances have increased tremendously. This would mean that not everyone can afford lion dances anymore.

This year, I was lucky to have witnessed both northern and southern lion dances at the Chinese New Year procession at Jonker Walk during my visit to Malacca. It was a fun experience, since it was my first time witnessing the northern lion dance performed live. If I were to choose a favourite, it will definitely be the southern lion dance because the dangerous stunts never cease to amaze me! Which is your favourite?

Jonker Walk

The Southern Lion

The Lion & I

The Northern Lion

Of Tragedies & Comedies

A new year, a new semester, a new course.

This blog is an on-line assignment for a course, EDU 3217 - Teaching the Language of Drama, which I am taking this semester. I am aware of the fact that it is becoming increasingly popular for teachers and educators to advocate the integration of computers and other forms of technology into the classroom. Blogging is something which I am familiar with, but blogging as an assignment which will be evaluated is something new and pretty intimidating for me. Nevertheless, it is an exciting challenge which I look forward too. And to my coursemates who are still new to the blogosphere, a warm welcome to all!

For the 1st lecture of this course, we were introduced to the Development of Theatre. The earlier plays during the Grecian and Roman era, consisted of 2 different genre - tragedy and comedy. Among the 2 eras, the Greek theatre was the most influential and popular. The Roman theatre also had its own share of fame, but it soon declined because of the change of form that theatre took - it became a violent and bloody sport. The emergence of a new religion - Christianity, also accounted for the decline of the Roman theatre. This paved the way for the rise of morality plays and Elizabethan drama (Medieval Theatre). It was also during this period that some of the world's most famous playwrights were introduced - William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and John Middleton, to name a few. This was followed by the Restoration Theatre which catered mainly for the Court society.

Today's lecture is definitely and eye-opener for me. I must say, it is saddening that most Malaysian students from all levels aren't exposed to theatre and arts. I myself, have never been to one before. Therefore, I found myself to be very intrigued by Dr. Edwin's lecture and what he had to share with us about theatre. Though this is only the 1st lecture for this course, being an ignorant person in the world of theatre and arts, I've definitely learned a lot (and I mean A LOT) about theatre during the 2-hour lecture with Dr. Edwin (crash course on theatre for dummies) :P

Am looking forward to the many lectures to come and the wonderful new things to learn. Hope that all of you coursemates share the same enthusiasm and excitement for this course too. Looking forward to reading and commenting your blogs. Till then, happy blogging :)