Floods

There is one thing that I have never got use to here is the floods. I have been through many and it was only early this year I found myself up to my Land Rover's bonnet in flood water.
The worst one I can remember was in 1993 on Christmas eve. Yup always hits on some celebration. Anyway my wife and I were staying on the farm at that time and had chest deep water under the house not to mention cobras swimming about. We were totally cut of from anyone and had no way to contact anyone. We spent the night eating cold rice and listening to logs hit the house.
Now if there is continuous rain for a few days I will be out in my Land Rover and with a camera taking photos. I wish I could show the lot but that would take up too much room. So here are a few for your viewing.

Manners and teaching them

The one thing I have found out here is that manners are lacking. My students do not have a habit of saying please or thank you. Good morning, goodbye or even hello is hard to get from them. I try to lead by example but it is not an easy task as they don't notice or don't care.
This morning I was pretty mad when I asked a student how she was and she replied "fine, why?"
I try to teach them it is classy to have manners. I am fighting a losing battle that is for sure.
Another thing that makes me mad is the throwing of rubbish everywhere. How can you stand straight to sing the National Anthem then litter everywhere.Loving your country means caring for her and making her a better place to live for the future. Sabah is a beautiful place and it needs all the help it can get to stay that way.

Rude awakening this morning

This morning at 4 o'clock I was jolted from my sleep by a bang. An Isuzu Bighorn had jumped the ditch and taken out my water pipe, water meter and all. I was looking at a twenty foot fountain of water and a car nearly on its side in the drain. Luckily nobody was hurt. The pipe was fixed today so no long term damage was done. But I was the star house along our road cause everybody kept looking at my fountain the whole morning.

Teaching Maths and science in English

I would like to make a short comment on the government's decision to revert back to Malay for the teaching of maths and science. I am not a man of politics but I am a father and an English teacher. I always thought it a good idea to have more English in school.
The problem here is not the policies but the implementation of those policies. The government may have good ideas but those ideas cannot work because they have not the backup from the government servants. Not having properly trained teachers and without everyone working hard for the policy to work contributed to it failing. I think in Malaysia the teachers are too laid back and don't care enough. Little do they think that they are to front line to the country's future. Many a time have my children told me that the teachers don't even bother to enter class. For Malaysia to improve it's education system will take more than just policies, it will take the education department and also the teachers to make sure it works. Loving ones country means working hard for its future and not just seeing how much you get paid for at the end of the month.

Non caring guy

Last Sunday I really saw something disgusting. There was an accident near Taman WTK . It seems than some Guy on a bicycle was hit by a Kancil. (If you want to know what a kancil is then it is a small Malaysian car.) The poor guy was lying on the side of the road gasping for breath. There were many people there. This ambulance appeared and I though would pick up the injured man, Instead I saw the driver p[eer over and then shoot off. He was a Tandek ambulance driver and getting home seemed more important to him. How to make the world a better place with people like this???

Fines for throwing rubbish

Hooray! I was driving along town and I saw a new notice that was put up by the town council. From now on it seems that anyone throwing rubbish about will be fined RM 500. I will be watching to see how they enforce this new law. What will happen to the Kampung Folks who cannot pay the fine. Maybe they will be made to do community work in they throw rubbish.
I am disappointed with the council here for taking down trees and not replacing them. I want Kota Marudu to be a green town. We need more trees and more parking spaces. If everyone works together they can make this town a great place.

Fish