Saturday, April 29, 2006
i've been asking tis myself when i tried to console myself. its a natural process where u pick up and move frm older friends. Take for instance da O levels, everybody became close knitted. soon, everybody moves and shifts to diff schs. Their own friends, diff timetables and all. So complicated right?
but to keep friends is a problem tat i'm facing now. ever since i started working, i have been seeing my friends lesser than ever. i thought my life was going down da hill being in da norm of working all day and has nothing else to do to entertain myself.
even when i was on my way home frm sch or work, and happen to meet my friends in da bus or along da way, i wasnt as chatty like i used to. da reason being, i was too worn-out frm all day's work. sometimes aft work, i had to go for class, tat explains y i was so worn out tat i dun talk much with any of my friends when i meet them. quite a dissappointment...
y do I feel so burdened? i feel like screaming. something is bothering me. I feel so distance abt my friendships. Haiz. I cant put my finger on it.
Monday, April 24, 2006
Recently, there was this news on "THE NEW PAPER" abt cat killers. B4 I continue any further.. I was damn fucking enraged by da news!!! SUCH HEARTLESS FREAKS!!!
These kind of heartless freak shld NOT exist!! If they do, they shld be ceased!!! How can they kill those young little cuties?? Dun they have any heart?
Wat do those poor kitties did to them till they have to kill them? Even if they hate cats, they SHLDNT..SHLDNT..SHLDNT KILL !!! Wats wrong with their fucking mind!!! Dun they knw tat cats, juz like humans are living organisms? Cats are not lifeless dolls ok!!!
Today's NEW PAPER, another cat killer in Bedok North now. I really hope, tat fucking cat killer will be arrested and please SHOW NO LENIENCY!!! A LIFE FOR A LIFE!!! Killer shld get a life sentence (if it is cupable homicide not amounting to murder) or a death sentence if it is murder. But wait a min, tat is for killer in da sense of Human kills Human.. wat if it is Human kills animals (in tis case, cats) ? Will they get da same sentence. . . ?
I read on and was very infuriated!! A cat killer was caught and was only sentenced to a 3 month jail?!!! WAT??!!! No way!!! Wat if da aforesaid perpetrator did it again aft his release?!!
Ok, so much for an enragement entry. I knw tat some of u out there who happens to read tis and happens to be a cat lover juz like me, will feel da same way too. So, I am going to cheer everyone up (including me)! Yup!!
To ryan, thanks for ur comment on my previous entry dated April 22. And here's my little gift to u.. as u had solicited (for those of u who didnt knw wats solicited, well..i am juz substituting it for requested..not sure if it is da right one though) for, my cat's pics and some other cute little cats pics juz for u..
Sshh.. my cat, TOMPOK tgh tidur.. Pls do not disturb..
My cat tak boleh dgr bunyi penyapu (penyapu lidi), dia mesti dtg dan bermanja dgn penyapu itu.. Funny character, eh..
Aww..how adorable!!!
Anura's cat.. He was missing since early last year. Kit..oh Kit... where r u? Pls come back, ur owner misses u..
So cute!!!
Saturday, April 22, 2006
If u cant remember, read my March 10 entry. So here goes another formal letter. See, my standard of English is not tat bad after all. * puji diri sendiri seh. * Instead of email, I typed and printed da letter and hand it over to da manager personally. Da date of da letter was March 14 2006, I handed over da letter to da manager on March 15 2006. In da second letter, aku babitkan my mother. See if tat helps..
I am writing with regards to the discrepancy of the course fees that I am going through.
For your knowledge, my mother has entrusted me into your good hands since my tertiary education. I started of with my diploma and advanced diploma in computer studies which led me to the current UOW degree program.
My family never had any problem with all my diploma fees installment payments. However, they have inadequate financial abilities to finance my UOW course fees. If it was not because of my persistence to finance myself by working, I would need to stop my education.
Anyway, my mother is alerted by the recent proposed installment plan that I have received from the school. I have always been independent in dealing with all my problems at school. Except for this time, my mother needs to step-in because the school is going overboard.
My mother was present when the ex-course consultant, Sharin Kaur quoted the course fees to me.
-The course fees quoted to us was based on the number of years not by module.
-According to her evaluation I will need 2.5 years to complete her course.
-This means, I will only need to complete 4 bridging modules instead of 8 to proceed on to year two.
-The course consultant quoted my course fee of $ 25,200 at first which should not be the case.
- I have schoolmates going under a 3-year course which include all 8 bridging modules to be paying less than $ 25,200.
-We asked the course consultant for an explanation.
-After which, she said it was a mistake and that my daughter should be paying less than $25, 200 which make up between $ 22,000 to $ 23,000 after placing the $3,000 down payment.
Furthermore, I have divided my course fees into two installment payment plans:
a) TCC
b) School
According to my calculations based on an approx. course fee to be $ 22,500:
Payment to TCC = $ 12,000
(Monthly payment of $448 by Giro which will end by Oct 2006)
Payment to the school should be: $ 22,500 – 12,000 = $10,500
Putting in mind, she has paid for her down payment of $ 3,000 and $ 1,000 to the
school on 3rd March 2006, she is left with the following amount to clear:
$ 10,500 - $ 4,000 = $ 6,500 (to be paid by installment after paying up the TCC
loan in Oct 2006)
I will end her course by Sept 2007 without any deferment.
This will leave me with 11mths to pay up the rest of her installment with the school.
As stated according to my calculations she should be paying to the school with a monthly amount of:
$ 6,500/ 11mths = approx. $ 590.90
On top of this, there are three questions I would like to post to the school:
1. Should we as your loyal customer then be penalized due to your management problems?
2. Why does the school allow such double standards in course fees?
I would expect a favorable reply from the school.
Thank you.
Regards,
Maria
Monday, April 17, 2006
Actually i can write well. I knw all those chunkie words of English but it was juz tat, I DO NOT KNW HOW TO USE IT IN A SENTENCE! VERY PATHETIC huh? I admit. Yes, I am pathetic! Hence, tats y I came to blogging. Read all other bloggers' words and learn frm them but I ended up obtrusively "plagiarized" their work. Hah!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was "caught" and I sent an email of apology. However, da person's deliberation was, I showed little interest or in other word, "perfunctory" (as wat he mean) in tat apology email. Sigh.. Couldnt b bothered.
Hmm..maybe da person wasnt accustomed to short form/abbreviation in my sincere indignation email, I guess? (Well, I always abbreviated some of my words: People is pple, know is knw, from is frm, that is tat, this is tis, what is wat, are is r, you is u, going to is gonna, want to is wanna and etcetra.)
P/S: See... i knw wat is "perfunctory". However, i wasnt too sure if I have used it correctly in a sentence. (any kind readers out there.. wanna help me out?)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wat I understand in "Principles of Business Law" lesson. All terms of business law and law are being taught to da class. One topic, which i find it very interesting and such a coincidence >> PLAGIARISM
Well, it all started when I RAISED da question on plagiarism to my lecturer cum full time lawyer. Tis was wat he shared to da whole class.
Plagiarism is claiming someone else's work as your own. Plagiarism is da use of another's words, works, thoughts, or ideas w/o giving proper credit to da author. In minor cases, it can be da quotation of a sentence or two, without quotation marks and without a citation (e.g., footnote) to da author.
Plagiarism is theft and lying - using information tat doesn't belong to you and passing it off as your own, either in its entirety or partially.
Is passing off a crime? ( a topic which will always be asked in Principles of Business Law exam: Law of Tort)
Yes, passing off is a crime. A crime known as a crime of tort. A tort is a civil wrong but not as serious as criminal wrong.
I voluntarily asked if plagiarism is a crime and tis was wat he told da whole class:
Plagiarism is neither a crime nor a civil wrong. Plagiarism is a theft of intellectual property.
There are loads of notes regarding da above topic but I think wat i have typed above is relevant and sufficient enuff for my entry.
Before I end my sincere indignation entry of mine, I wld like to remind pple out there tat MAJORITY of da WORDS I used for blogging ARE MY OWN WORDS.. I can cite some examples: Go to my March 10 entry >> I wrote a formal email to da Senior Manager of my sch. ( since tat was a formal email, of coz I cant use abbreviations).
Some others are:-
- February 18 entry on Missed being a kid
- February 5 entry >> Singaporean Malay Muslim. Believes in Islam
January 21 entry >> u dun miss da water till da well runs dry. true isnt it? - July 22 2005 entry on Blogs are not safe anymore?
- my London Blasts entry on July 8 2005
- Monday, July 4 2005 entry.
There are loads more but the above are da recent entries I had blogged using not so chunkie words but its my own style of how and wat to write.
Enjoy reading. Till I blog again!
Good nite. ^yawning^
Sunday, April 16, 2006
I last blog abt my friendster testimonial on 29 Oct 2005!!! It has been more than 5 months and i didnt continue da part 12.. well, coz there's more to come!! Haha.
40.
Hey babe! Since u lurve cats so much, i'll give u a nickname aite. Miss Kitty. heh!
We were frm the same sch but never in the same class..She will give her best smile, her sweatest smile..She is smart, smart in handling probs n full of confidence with all the positive thoughts..She is hardworking.............in updating her pics n blogs! *winks*
Promise u we'll go 2 Ros wedding 2gether..Dat if im off la(praying hard)..C ya around Miss Kitty!
From: Seri
41.
helo helo helo......long tyme no c.... where hav u gone....??so wen is ur teaching dae? ....... hop 2 cu soon at centre.... ya...
just noe her tis year... always like 2smile.. (of coz lah she has a beautifulsmile watz!!! *winks*....).. very gentle notlike her younger sisterz..hehe... expertin changing n updating blog...hakzz...(tats watz i always c)...
LOLZ tats all i can 4 now.... heheheshort huh.. but nex tyme i will write anessay ke...*winks*...
P/S: hey rite me a testi okiez.... n hehesori coz skrg aru nk rite.... lupa lah!!!
From: OooZahraOoo (testomonial dated July 2004)
42.
hey Maria! How have you been girl?Hey everyone, she is a girl with a beautiful soul!! She is nice and have a cheerful smile which can be infectious!She is kind and caring always cares for people around her.She absolutely loves an animal which goes by the name of cat. I totally dislike cats. Cant understand y she loves cats so much!She loves to sing. In sec sch, always hear her sings and her voice is quite nice. Hey, I'm not one of the judges of Anugerah, Singapore Idol or Project Superstar so I cant really judge her. Heh.. Told her to join those competitions but she said that she has no confident! Hey gal, if u think u can sing, GO FOR IT! Ur friends know U can sing.There u go, a girl with no confidence.. She doesnt want to show her talent, ability and capability. My advice for u: If u think u can, then GO FOR IT!Anyway, to sum it all up, she is gentle, sweet, friendly, approachable, and nice.
From: Fadhil (Ogy)
43.
hey there...
Here's my touch on Maria...Nice lady, ya she does lur cats...Can see that...The first look,she looks like so one who is quiet, and woldnt talk much...But when u really get to know her...U will see what she can turn out to be...hehehhe.. Big fan org Syeik Amir (i thk i get the name wrong...but who cares...hahahha...)
Klah Sis.. U take care.. c u at center as usual.... = )
From: ct-abshah
44.
Amyria!!!Hmm...Although we juz know each other,she really has the same opinion n mind as me...Ok u know yg u nie tk sombong???Oklah gd luck in evrthin' u do n always support Khairil ok?Ha3
From: BaDGalzZ (no idea who is she but she is a fan of ANUGERAH FINALISTS 2005 and added me in.. and i replied to her msgs..)
45.
amy is a good lady, really, really i am not lying. We have been friends since sec 1 and she has been trying very hard. To me, she is a lady who never give up.
From: Chee Shiong
To be continued
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
In conjunction with Maulidur Rasul on 12 Rabiulawal (11 April 2006), I will link to you da URL of a five-part series of the Biography of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Thanks to a blogger whose goes by da name of Auramustika.. I got to knw his blog while blog-hopping and da prophet Muhammad's story in his blog. A historical story which I had heard in malay during my young days while in religious lessons.
For Part 1, I copied da story frm [http://auramustika.blogdrive.com/archive/223.html] to my little space for easy reading to all my readers but hey, dun say I left da entry uncredited.. I have alrdy stated frm where I got da story frm >> a blogger whose goes by da name of Auramustika.
PART 1: Birth of the Prophet
Muhammad was born in 569 after Christ. His father, 'Abdullah had died some weeks earlier, and it was his grandfather who took him in charge. According to the prevailing custom, the child was entrusted to a Bedouin foster-mother, with whom he passed several years in the desert. All biographers state that the infant prophet sucked only one breast of his foster-mother, leaving the other for the sustenance of his foster-brother.
When the child was brought back home, his mother, Aminah, took him to his maternal uncles at Madinah to visit the tomb of 'Abdullah. During the return journey, he lost his mother who died a sudden death. At Mecca, another bereavement awaited him, in the death of his affectionate grandfather. Subjected to such privations, he was at the age of eight, consigned at last to the care of his uncle, Abu-Talib, a man who was generous of nature but always short of resources and hardly able to provide for his family.
Young Muhammad had therefore to start immediately to earn his livelihood; he served as a shepherd boy to some neighbours. At the age of ten he accompanied his uncle to Syria when he was leading a caravan there. No other travels of Abu-Talib are mentioned, but there are references to his having set up a shop in Mecca. (Ibn Qutaibah, Ma'arif). It is possible that Muhammad helped him in this enterprise also.
By the time he was twenty-five, Muhammad had become well known in the city for the integrity of his disposition and the honesty of his character. A rich widow, Khadijah, took him in her employ and consigned to him her goods to be taken for sale to Syria. Delighted with the unusual profits she obtained as also by the personal charms of her agent, she offered him her hand. According to divergent reports, she was either 28 or 40 years of age at that time, (medical reasons prefer the age of 28 since she gave birth to five more children). The union proved happy.
Later, we see him sometimes in the fair of Hubashah (Yemen), and at least once in the country of the 'Abd al-Qais (Bahrain-Oman), as mentioned by Ibn Hanbal. There is every reason to believe that this refers to the great fair of Daba (Oman), where, according to Ibn al-Kalbi (cf. Ibn Habib, Muhabbar), the traders of China, of Hind and Sind (India, Pakistan), of Persia, of the East and the West assembled every year, travelling both by land and sea.
There is also mention of a commercial partner of Muhammad at Mecca. This person, Sa'ib by name reports: "We relayed each other; if Muhammad led the caravan, he did not enter his house on his return to Mecca without clearing accounts with me; and if I led the caravan, he would on my return enquire about my welfare and speak nothing about his own capital entrusted to me."
PART 2: An Order of Chivalry
Foreign traders often brought their goods to Mecca for sale. One day a certain Yemenite (of the tribe of Zubaid) improvised a satirical poem against some Meccans who had refused to pay him the price of what he had sold, and others who had not supported his claim or had failed to come to his help when he was victimised. Zuhair, uncle and chief of the tribe of the Prophet, felt great remorse on hearing this just satire. He called for a meeting of certain chieftains in the city, and organized an order of chivalry, called Hilf al-fudul, with the aim and object of aiding the oppressed in Mecca, irrespective of their being dwellers of the city or aliens. Young Muhammad became an enthusiastic member of the organisation. Later in life he used to say: "I have participated in it, and I am not prepared to give up that privilege even against a herd of camels; if somebody should appeal to me even today, by virtue of that pledge, I shall hurry to his help."
PART 3: Revelation
He was forty years old, and it was the fifth consecutive year since his annual retreats, when one night towards the end of the month of Ramadan, an angel came to visit him, and announced that God had chosen him as His messenger to all mankind. The angel taught him the mode of ablutions, the way of worshipping God and the conduct of prayer. He communicated to him the following Divine message With the name of God, the Most Merciful, the All-Merciful.
Please visit: http://auramustika.blogdrive.com/archive/236.html for da continuation of Part 3.
PART 4: Social Boycott
When a large number of the Meccan Muslims migrated to Abyssinia, the leaders of paganism sent an ultimatum to the tribe of the Prophet, demanding that he should be excommunicated and outlawed and delivered to the pagans for being put to death. Every member of the tribe, Muslim and non-Muslim rejected the demand. (cf. Ibn Hisham). Thereupon the city decided on a complete boycott of the tribe: Nobody was to talk to them or have commercial or matrimonial relations with them. The group of Arab tribes called Ahabish, inhabiting the suburbs, who were allies of the Meccans, also joined in the boycott, causing stark misery among the innocent victims consisting of children, men and women, the old and the sick and the feeble. Some of them succumbed yet nobody would hand over the Prophet to his persecutors.
An uncle of the Prophet, Abu Lahab, however left his tribesmen and participated in the boycott along with the pagans. After three dire years, during which the victims were obliged to devour even crushed hides, four or five non-Muslims, more humane than the rest and belonging to different clans proclaimed publicly their denunciation of the unjust boycott. At the same time, the document promulgating the pact of boycott which had been hung in the temple, was found, as Muhammad had predicted, eaten by white ants, that spared nothing but the words God and Muhammad. The boycott was lifted, yet owing to the privations that were undergone the wife and Abu Talib, the chief of the tribe and uncle of the Prophet died soon after. Another uncle of the Prophet, Abu-Lahab, who was an inveterate enemy of Islam, now succeeded to the headship of the tribe. (cf. lbn Hisham, Sirah).
Source of URL and continuation: http://auramustika.blogdrive.com/archive/226.html
PART 5: Migration to Madinah
The annual pilgrimage of the Ka'bah brought to Mecca people from all parts of Arabia. The Prophet Muhammad tried to persuade one tribe after another to afford him shelter and allow him to carry on his mission of reform. The contingents of fifteen tribes, whom he approached in succession, refused to do so more or less brutally, but he did not despair. Finally he met half a dozen inhabitants of Madinah who being neighbour of the Jews and the Christians, had some notion of prophets and Divine messages. They knew also that these "people of the Books" were awaiting the arrival of a prophet - a last comforter. So these Madinans decided not to lose the opportunity of obtaining an advance over others, and forthwith embraced Islam, promising further to provide additional adherents and necessary help from Madinah.
The following year a dozen new Madinans took the oath of allegiance to him and requested him to provide with a missionary teacher. The work of the missionary, Mus'ab, proved very successful and he led a contingent of seventy-three new converts to Mecca, at the time of the pilgrimage. These invited the Prophet and his Meccan companions to migrate to their town, and promised to shelter the Prophet and to treat him and his companions as their own kith and kin. Secretly and in small groups, the greater part of the Muslims emigrated to Madinah. Upon this the pagans of Mecca not only confiscated the property of the evacuees, but devised a plot to assassinate the Prophet.
It became now impossible for him to remain at home. It is worthy of mention, that in spite of their hostility to his mission, the pagans had unbounded confidence in his probity, so much so that many of them used to deposit their savings with him. The Prophet Muhammad now entrusted all these deposits to 'Ali, a cousin of his, with instructions to return in due course to the rightful owners. He then left the town secretly in the company of his faithful friend, Abu-Bakr. After several adventures, they succeeded in reaching Madinah in safety. This happened in 622, whence starts the Hijrah calendar.
::THE END::
-WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO MUHAMMAD.NET-
Karya :: auramustika ::
Hope u enjoy da story!! Not my story but i got this frm auramustika's blog. Credit goes to him.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
I have been speaking a little mandarin with an older colleague whose age is half a decade and maybe, she's frm China. She cant speak English and been talking in Mandarin to all da staff - including me.
Since, I knw a little mandarin, it wasnt a problem for me at all. I can respond and understand mandarin. She was shocked tat i am able answer her back!! Coz usually when she speaks mandarin to non-chinese, da non-chinese replied back in english and she needs sumone to translate to her. She only speaks simple English.
SHE: Ge ni de.. (I give this to u [since i am doing tat particular job])
ME: Xie Xie (Thank you)
SHE: Ni ke yi chiang hua yi ah? (U can speak mandarin?)
ME: Keyi, tian tian (yes, a little)
SHE: Tian tian ah.. hen hau (little bit ah, good good)
And basically we converse in mandarin everytime. Some of da staffs knw abt it. One malay colleague (can b regarded as my uncle as he is of tat age!) asked me in malay, "Kau faham?"
ME: Faham, sikit-sikit bolehlah..
One of da chinese executive came to my desk and start conversation. She asked, "So, Maria did u learn mandarin back in sch?"
ME: No.
SHE: Oh, u speak da language pretty well.
ME: I watched channel 8 since young.
SHE: Oh, tats interesting. Tats gd!! So u can easily converse in mandarin once u master da language well when our firm branches out in China?
I just smiled at her when hearing tat. And u knw wat? Tat has motivates me. Yes, it has motivates me to sign up for mandarin courses. Oh remember I blogged abt me learning mandarin? Well, yes I did. But i am learning it by myself frm a book and asked my chinese friends how to translate any sentence to mandarin. I stopped for 2 months due to our busy schedules. So....
I am learning mandarin, starting May or June. Yes, mandarin. Conversational first (see how i improved, den I'll go for written). Night classes after my working hours tat is. Of course, will make sure it doesnt clash with my degree nite classes. In fact, its gonna do me good, btw. I do have the interest in learning tat language.
I can speak a little mandarin but i am not extremely good at it. Tats y I wanna learn more on tat essential language in Singapore and also to improve myself. Having da ability to speak mandarin is impt in Singapore. If u dont believe me, buy Straits Times, turn to RECRUIT section, or visit job websites. Den, u will agree wif me. Right now I am only bilingual in malay and English and very fluent at it. I can speak and write English, and malay. When I am good at mandarin later, tats another language I can add in my resume. Hehe. Insya-allah.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Jin tai secondary will no longer exist in da year 2007.....Jin Tai will be merging with Ghim Moh secondary.....
Sigh.. there goes da school tat lies da most memories in my mind...da school tat i have received my secondary education....da school where i have made many friends...da school tat i have gained ultimate knowledge.....da school tat i missed most after i have graduated (even till now!)
i really cant believe it....i hate this......
Monday, April 03, 2006
I find da show is rather draggy.. I dun understand y my family are glued to tat show, is it becoz of da storyline - twists and turns - or it is becoz of da leading actor >> ARI WIBOWO??
Ari Wibowo
Yesterday, da hero star of DIA, Ari Wibowo (played character Irfan) came to Singapore!!! At 2pm, Plaza Singapura. I didnt go there. Not interested. Hey, I knw tat 3 of da ANUGERAH FINALISTS (Khairil is one of them - my fav!!!) were there to perform BUT i still decide not to go. Y? C'mon I am studying at da same time, remember? I need to catch up on my sch's assignments!!! They are gonna be dued end April!
As u had guess. My family is NOW WATCHING Indonesia Sinetron >> Dia.. Sigh..