Time to say good bye

I just want to tell you all how happy I am to teach you.

When I first learned that I had to teach during summer, my first reaction was "?!?". I was speechless! I have heard 'rumours' about how 'difficult' it is to teach '501' since most students don't like English. So I came to meet you with rather 'heavy' heart.

But you have changed everything. I've found my students rather polite and determined to study. The atmosphere in class was rather quiet at first, but when we got to know each other better, there were laughters and smiles most of the time. I think 'positive' attitude really helps make learning easier and better!

I hope you have learned enough to help you 'read' better. The skills we've practiced in class were basic tools to help you know how to 'read'. Dictionary is still important since you are not English-major students. So use it with confidence. And when you see really 'long' sentences, don't get panic. Use your sentece analysis technique. It helps!

Now, please tell me what you think about this class. Do you think you have learned enough to help you read better? What do you want us to teach you more? These information will be really helpful for our next classes ka.

Good luck on your exam and sucess on your study na ka.

Are we getting lonely?

My mother stopped by my house on Saturday. When she was with us, both my daughters were online chatting with their friends, my husband was walking around, talking to his friend over his mobile phone, my mother-in-law was watching TV and I was checking my emails. So my mum joined my mother-in-law in watching TV. During a commercial break my mum simply said though there were many people around, my house was very quiet and so was hers.

I stopped checking my mails and listened. It was really quiet. Apart from the sounds from TV all I could hear was the clicking sound of keyboard and a faint conversation my husband had with his friend. We were at the same place, at the same time but we did not 'communicate'.

TV and radio are the first tools that separate us from each other. Before TVs and radio people went out to see "Li-kay". They were ready to socialise. Then came phones and mobile phones. How many times do we use our mobile phone as a way to avoid making contact with others in public places? People stop talking and getting to know each other. 'The land of smiles' no longer exist. We look 'through' people as if we are looking through thin air, right?

iPod and MP3 player do the same trick--cutting us out from the rest of the world. It's rather strange that we have isolated ourselves from others more and more. People make friends via internet. Some even purchase things online. They don't even go out and socialise with sales persons. Food delivery online or by phone has become a common way of finding something to eat.

How 'private' do we want to be?

Extension to corruption cases

There was a plan tackle the corruption problems by extending the statute of limitation regarding corruption cases to 30 years. The cabinet hopes that this amendment will make people think twice before doing anything wrong. This means that if anyone is charged with a corruption case, the government will have 30 years to find strong evidence enough to put that person into jail. Thirty years is definitely a very long time. One can't easily run or hide that long.

Do you think that this measure will help reduce corruption cases in our country? Let me know what you think.

Introduction

Please introduce yourself and let me know you a bit better.