seems a bit odd as i am spelling tension in a malay like manner, but anyways, im taking my 2 weeks core leave which i intend to focus on my preparations for my chartered financial analyst exam early december. ive pratically been studying for the past 5 hours or so, which i just realised that im running out of ciggis to smoke.....sigh...
just trying to release my 'tensen' here. Hope it gets me driven back again to continue my reading.
*dominos pizza dah sampai...heheheh
laters,
Ahmad
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Happy Birthday Tia!!!
Dearest Tia,
A very Happy Birthday to you.
Hope you had a wonderful time celebrating your birthday with your family.
May you be blessed with a long and healthy life filled with happiness and fulfillment.
Love,
Nina
Thursday, November 16, 2006
My script
Hello all..
I have posted my script at ismailkamarul.blogspot.com
Please read it carefully, and dont judge the author! As it is, very religiously contraversial.
First and foremost, i must warn all of you, that if you're standing on unstable grounds of faith, PLEASE DO NOT READ IT. I believe this script has the power to shake anyone. Most people get scared when they read it. Its no joke guys.
Recently, i was on a shoot with Passion Pictures. It was with oscar winning teams. Director is nominated this year for his work for 'The Last King of Scotland', Director of Photography won best cinematographer for 'Kingdom of Heaven' and 'Gladiator'. My position was 3rd Assistant Director for a Shell short movie corporate video. I had fun guys! Hopefull in 5 years ill start directing local movies. Good ones! FINGERS CROSSED! I got so fired up since the shoot.
So read my script! And tell me what you guys think.
Thanks
A'e
I have posted my script at ismailkamarul.blogspot.com
Please read it carefully, and dont judge the author! As it is, very religiously contraversial.
First and foremost, i must warn all of you, that if you're standing on unstable grounds of faith, PLEASE DO NOT READ IT. I believe this script has the power to shake anyone. Most people get scared when they read it. Its no joke guys.
Recently, i was on a shoot with Passion Pictures. It was with oscar winning teams. Director is nominated this year for his work for 'The Last King of Scotland', Director of Photography won best cinematographer for 'Kingdom of Heaven' and 'Gladiator'. My position was 3rd Assistant Director for a Shell short movie corporate video. I had fun guys! Hopefull in 5 years ill start directing local movies. Good ones! FINGERS CROSSED! I got so fired up since the shoot.
So read my script! And tell me what you guys think.
Thanks
A'e
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
How much in charge am I? - prompted by Gibran
He he he he
Ail's poem brought about a volley of thoughts in me. I love little nibblish projects to mull over. I thought of it, God as the Archer, Parents the Bow and, the Child the wee arrow. It prompted me to think of free will. How much free will does Islam accord the human being? How much is destined? How much is totally in the realm of God and beyond the will of humans?
I remember studying in my global strat class, my textbook happily informed me that dealing with the Arabs can be trying for most Westerners because the religion Islam creates a fatalist mind which leaves everything in God's hand rather than to human effort and will. Instead of fighting for change we tend to leave the fighting to God. When it suits us, only God's will shall prevail. We are powerless and willless people in the hands of destiny.
But rather than blaming Islam for this mentality, I feel that it is mostly due to laziness and shallow Islamic knowledge.
I was rather embarrassed recently to hear my husband describe a beloved Muslim rocker, Awie, whose latest press conference on his polygamous marriag, piously described it as 'God's will' whilst using his children as a physical shield. Not an act of free will mind you. No, it was not the will of you know what.
All of this got me into a little brouhaha with my partner in crime, Dayah. What is the bloody big deal what has been determined or has not been determined? she asks me. Just acceptlah, she grumped on. Does it really matter she asks. Besides we dont know anything. Write it down, Na, she says and I'll send your question to Hussein Yee. Will do, Dayah.
Yes it matters to me. I need to know. Hard to understand how God knows everything we will do now and in the future, which gives me a sense that everything is preordained, but how can everything be preordained when we are made accountable for our actions on Judgement Day? and we are accountable for only those actions done on free will. Otherwise it's not fair. Ugh. Got to clear that murky mess up.
Well I'll go off on my research.
Love,
Nina
Ail's poem brought about a volley of thoughts in me. I love little nibblish projects to mull over. I thought of it, God as the Archer, Parents the Bow and, the Child the wee arrow. It prompted me to think of free will. How much free will does Islam accord the human being? How much is destined? How much is totally in the realm of God and beyond the will of humans?
I remember studying in my global strat class, my textbook happily informed me that dealing with the Arabs can be trying for most Westerners because the religion Islam creates a fatalist mind which leaves everything in God's hand rather than to human effort and will. Instead of fighting for change we tend to leave the fighting to God. When it suits us, only God's will shall prevail. We are powerless and willless people in the hands of destiny.
But rather than blaming Islam for this mentality, I feel that it is mostly due to laziness and shallow Islamic knowledge.
I was rather embarrassed recently to hear my husband describe a beloved Muslim rocker, Awie, whose latest press conference on his polygamous marriag, piously described it as 'God's will' whilst using his children as a physical shield. Not an act of free will mind you. No, it was not the will of you know what.
All of this got me into a little brouhaha with my partner in crime, Dayah. What is the bloody big deal what has been determined or has not been determined? she asks me. Just acceptlah, she grumped on. Does it really matter she asks. Besides we dont know anything. Write it down, Na, she says and I'll send your question to Hussein Yee. Will do, Dayah.
Yes it matters to me. I need to know. Hard to understand how God knows everything we will do now and in the future, which gives me a sense that everything is preordained, but how can everything be preordained when we are made accountable for our actions on Judgement Day? and we are accountable for only those actions done on free will. Otherwise it's not fair. Ugh. Got to clear that murky mess up.
Well I'll go off on my research.
Love,
Nina
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Khalil Gibran
Since we are on the topic of children, let me share with all of you something i memorize by heart. Its by Khalil Gibran.
And a woman who held her baby against her bosom said
'Speak to us of Children'
And he said,
Your children are not your children,
They are the sons and daughters of life longing for itself,
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you,
Yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts,
You may house their bodies but not their soul,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow of which you cannot visit,
Not even in your dreams,
You may seek to be like them,
But seek not to make them like you,
For life goes not backwards nor does it tarry with yesterdays,
You are the bow from which your children as living arrows are sent forth,
The Archer sees the mark beyond the path of the infinite,
And He bends you, with His might, that His arrow may go swith and far,
Let the bending in the archers hand be for gladness,
For even He loves the arrow that flies, he loves also the bow that is stable.
Khalil Gibrans 'The Prophet'.
So dinnies, imagine yourselves as parents, you are merely a bow.The archer, which is God, will aim wherever he pleases, but its up to you to make the bow strong and sturdy. So that it will hit the mark that God intended. But once the arrow flies, all you can do is watch...
As for me, im too takut to be a parent! Hehehe
Ail
And a woman who held her baby against her bosom said
'Speak to us of Children'
And he said,
Your children are not your children,
They are the sons and daughters of life longing for itself,
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you,
Yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts,
You may house their bodies but not their soul,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow of which you cannot visit,
Not even in your dreams,
You may seek to be like them,
But seek not to make them like you,
For life goes not backwards nor does it tarry with yesterdays,
You are the bow from which your children as living arrows are sent forth,
The Archer sees the mark beyond the path of the infinite,
And He bends you, with His might, that His arrow may go swith and far,
Let the bending in the archers hand be for gladness,
For even He loves the arrow that flies, he loves also the bow that is stable.
Khalil Gibrans 'The Prophet'.
So dinnies, imagine yourselves as parents, you are merely a bow.The archer, which is God, will aim wherever he pleases, but its up to you to make the bow strong and sturdy. So that it will hit the mark that God intended. But once the arrow flies, all you can do is watch...
As for me, im too takut to be a parent! Hehehe
Ail
Hari Raya Pictures
Aisha,
Your mom and Kak Azah took some pictures for Dayah and I on Hari Raya. I would be eternally grateful if you could remind them to send the pics over to me.
Could you pretty please?
Love,
Nina
Your mom and Kak Azah took some pictures for Dayah and I on Hari Raya. I would be eternally grateful if you could remind them to send the pics over to me.
Could you pretty please?
Love,
Nina
Mastering Language - Helping your child.
Hi there Dinnie Moms and Dinnie Dads (plus Future Dinnie parents),
I know that all of you are doing a fantastic job in educating your child or children. I also know that all of you have their very best interest at heart.
I thought that this blog is a good place to share activities that you have done which may have contributed exceptionally well to yr child's education. Americans are so good at sharing all their good ideas and it’s something to learn from.
If I may, I'd love to share with you some activities that I have done with Taufik which I feel really helped in his learning.One of my biggest concerns in bringing up Taufik was how much slower his language development would be due to learning three languages at the same time. So I made focused effort in communication.
Today Taufik speaks English fluently and expressively, his Thai is also very good, his Danish somewhat lagging behind the former two. His recent school evaluation puts him ahead of his peers in language fluency, expressiveness, general knowledge and vocabulary (in the English language).I found activities (listed below) helped me tremendously and probably a lot of you are already doing it. But I'll share it with you anyway.
1. Reading books together.
Hidayah began reading Dr. Seuss's "The Shape of Me and Other Stuff" and "Berenstain's Bears B Book" when Taufik was a little over a month old. And I have continued from there and we have not stopped since that time. Books took Taufik and I to building construction sites, farms, up into the skies with airplanes, into the ponds, under the sea, on the rocket, experiencing snow, digging in the garden and so many other places. They were the building blocks for the other activities I had developed together with Taufik. The library is a frequent destination for Taufik and I, and story telling sessions are always a real treat. He is read to in the mornings upon waking and in the evenings before sleeping. His all consuming passion today is, books.
2. Tailor Made Picture Cards
I wanted to capture his interest and penetrate deeper into the subject matter. Taking a hint from Montessori, I came up with this new idea. It all began because Taufik loves container trucks and always asks me about what it's doing. How do I explain that it collects goods and delivers them to a port where they are then shipped? I scoured the net for pictures of container trucks, container yard, fork lifts lifting containers, the port, gantry cranes, container ships and others. I had them printed out at the photo shop and glued them on palm sized individual cards. Then I placed them in sequence, together with Taufik we followed the journey of the container truck from the yard to the port and finally sailing off on the ship. I narrated the picture to him in a story like manner; I try to make it as exciting as possible. Using different voices for the container truck, the forklift truck etc. We've got other themes, the Fire Engine truck, Airplanes, Construction Vehicles and others. You can do the same; just make your theme something that your child is totally into. Be sure that the flow of your pictures tell an exciting story.
When he is familiar with the story line, get your child to re tell you that story going through the cards in sequence. This helps him develop the important skills he needs to organize his thoughts well, express himself and also prepares him for creative writing.
3. Story telling sessions in the car.
I realised that book reading at this stage depends a lot on the visuals that the books provide. To develope imagination, I needed Taufik to picture things in his mind. So I came up with idea of making up stories whilst in the car. We do a lot of driving and that's a lot of time to be used up. Turn off that radio (it is strictly prohibited in my truck) and develope a love for quiet chatting or story sharing. I've got a series of stories that I've expanded from his love of "Jungle Book", many adventures of Mowgli and Baloo in the Jungle with Dr. Doolittle.
Also a whole series of stories related to every day life. The monk standing by the road, becomes a little story about how he lives at the Wat we just passed by, and how he hailed down a taxi, then boarded a bus to get back to the Wat. Simple adventures and he loves it. Be prepared to repeat your story again and again. It also gives you the opportunity to expand the story to include different words describing the same thing. Your child will get their meanings because he already knows the story by heart and may even begin using these new words when retelling the story. In essence, you develope imagination, and increase vocabulary through repeating the same stories using a rich variety of different words.
I’ll upload my pictures sets on Taufik’s website just in case you are interested in using them or don’t have time to scour the net for your own pictures.
Essentially, I want all Muslim children to be exceptional, to have the opportunity to be exceptional. Part of being a charismatic personality lies in being a good communicator.
4. A Classic Nursery Song with a Twist
Do you know that song, “One little, two little, three little Indians…”? By accident Taufik and I came up with a very educational game that we both love playing. We began by replacing “little Indians” with “little tuk tuks”. So the song became, “seven little, eight little, nine little tuk tuks. Ten little tuk tuks on the road.”
Then we modified it when Taufik said one day, “What else Mommy?” and I introduced an animal. I said, “Whales?” upon him agreeing I asked him, “Are whales big or small?”. He would say “Big!”. Then we began singing, “seven big, eight big, nine big whales.” When we came to ten, I let Taufik sing by himself, “Ten big whales….(he paused, cause obviously whales cant be on the road)…in the ocean!” He sang triumphantly.
From that time onwards we would replace it with animals, plants, vehicles, random items and he would have to sing and end the song with something connected to the subject matter. For example Taufik has come up with “Ten frogs on the lily pad. Ten mobile cranes on the sand pit. Ten fishes in the aquarium.”
It’s a lot of fun and your child learns so much through counting, learning the difference in sizes and categorizing objects. And you learn too just how much your child knows about the things around him.
The possibilities are endless. But you need book reading to give your child the exposure and ability to be able to connect an animal for instance to his usual place of habitat. Like the case of the frog and his lily pad – Taufik knows this after being read to the book called “Ferdinand the Frog”.
5. Learning more than one language
Please, whatever you do, teach your child at least two languages, Bahasa and English. One parent must be dedicated to one language, and speak to that child only in that language, no matter what language the child responds in. This will go along way to getting your child fluent in both languages. Don’t waste this opportunity by mixing up the languages you speak when addressing your child. A child identifies the appropriate language to speak in by the person they speak to. Mommy’s language is English and Daddy’s language is Bahasa. So their signal for which language to speak in will be dependent upon the person they address.
If you have any good ideas that you have implemented successfully with your child, please share it with me, with all of us, so that we can try it out on our own children.
I know that all of you are doing a fantastic job in educating your child or children. I also know that all of you have their very best interest at heart.
I thought that this blog is a good place to share activities that you have done which may have contributed exceptionally well to yr child's education. Americans are so good at sharing all their good ideas and it’s something to learn from.
If I may, I'd love to share with you some activities that I have done with Taufik which I feel really helped in his learning.One of my biggest concerns in bringing up Taufik was how much slower his language development would be due to learning three languages at the same time. So I made focused effort in communication.
Today Taufik speaks English fluently and expressively, his Thai is also very good, his Danish somewhat lagging behind the former two. His recent school evaluation puts him ahead of his peers in language fluency, expressiveness, general knowledge and vocabulary (in the English language).I found activities (listed below) helped me tremendously and probably a lot of you are already doing it. But I'll share it with you anyway.
1. Reading books together.
Hidayah began reading Dr. Seuss's "The Shape of Me and Other Stuff" and "Berenstain's Bears B Book" when Taufik was a little over a month old. And I have continued from there and we have not stopped since that time. Books took Taufik and I to building construction sites, farms, up into the skies with airplanes, into the ponds, under the sea, on the rocket, experiencing snow, digging in the garden and so many other places. They were the building blocks for the other activities I had developed together with Taufik. The library is a frequent destination for Taufik and I, and story telling sessions are always a real treat. He is read to in the mornings upon waking and in the evenings before sleeping. His all consuming passion today is, books.
2. Tailor Made Picture Cards
I wanted to capture his interest and penetrate deeper into the subject matter. Taking a hint from Montessori, I came up with this new idea. It all began because Taufik loves container trucks and always asks me about what it's doing. How do I explain that it collects goods and delivers them to a port where they are then shipped? I scoured the net for pictures of container trucks, container yard, fork lifts lifting containers, the port, gantry cranes, container ships and others. I had them printed out at the photo shop and glued them on palm sized individual cards. Then I placed them in sequence, together with Taufik we followed the journey of the container truck from the yard to the port and finally sailing off on the ship. I narrated the picture to him in a story like manner; I try to make it as exciting as possible. Using different voices for the container truck, the forklift truck etc. We've got other themes, the Fire Engine truck, Airplanes, Construction Vehicles and others. You can do the same; just make your theme something that your child is totally into. Be sure that the flow of your pictures tell an exciting story.
When he is familiar with the story line, get your child to re tell you that story going through the cards in sequence. This helps him develop the important skills he needs to organize his thoughts well, express himself and also prepares him for creative writing.
3. Story telling sessions in the car.
I realised that book reading at this stage depends a lot on the visuals that the books provide. To develope imagination, I needed Taufik to picture things in his mind. So I came up with idea of making up stories whilst in the car. We do a lot of driving and that's a lot of time to be used up. Turn off that radio (it is strictly prohibited in my truck) and develope a love for quiet chatting or story sharing. I've got a series of stories that I've expanded from his love of "Jungle Book", many adventures of Mowgli and Baloo in the Jungle with Dr. Doolittle.
Also a whole series of stories related to every day life. The monk standing by the road, becomes a little story about how he lives at the Wat we just passed by, and how he hailed down a taxi, then boarded a bus to get back to the Wat. Simple adventures and he loves it. Be prepared to repeat your story again and again. It also gives you the opportunity to expand the story to include different words describing the same thing. Your child will get their meanings because he already knows the story by heart and may even begin using these new words when retelling the story. In essence, you develope imagination, and increase vocabulary through repeating the same stories using a rich variety of different words.
I’ll upload my pictures sets on Taufik’s website just in case you are interested in using them or don’t have time to scour the net for your own pictures.
Essentially, I want all Muslim children to be exceptional, to have the opportunity to be exceptional. Part of being a charismatic personality lies in being a good communicator.
4. A Classic Nursery Song with a Twist
Do you know that song, “One little, two little, three little Indians…”? By accident Taufik and I came up with a very educational game that we both love playing. We began by replacing “little Indians” with “little tuk tuks”. So the song became, “seven little, eight little, nine little tuk tuks. Ten little tuk tuks on the road.”
Then we modified it when Taufik said one day, “What else Mommy?” and I introduced an animal. I said, “Whales?” upon him agreeing I asked him, “Are whales big or small?”. He would say “Big!”. Then we began singing, “seven big, eight big, nine big whales.” When we came to ten, I let Taufik sing by himself, “Ten big whales….(he paused, cause obviously whales cant be on the road)…in the ocean!” He sang triumphantly.
From that time onwards we would replace it with animals, plants, vehicles, random items and he would have to sing and end the song with something connected to the subject matter. For example Taufik has come up with “Ten frogs on the lily pad. Ten mobile cranes on the sand pit. Ten fishes in the aquarium.”
It’s a lot of fun and your child learns so much through counting, learning the difference in sizes and categorizing objects. And you learn too just how much your child knows about the things around him.
The possibilities are endless. But you need book reading to give your child the exposure and ability to be able to connect an animal for instance to his usual place of habitat. Like the case of the frog and his lily pad – Taufik knows this after being read to the book called “Ferdinand the Frog”.
5. Learning more than one language
Please, whatever you do, teach your child at least two languages, Bahasa and English. One parent must be dedicated to one language, and speak to that child only in that language, no matter what language the child responds in. This will go along way to getting your child fluent in both languages. Don’t waste this opportunity by mixing up the languages you speak when addressing your child. A child identifies the appropriate language to speak in by the person they speak to. Mommy’s language is English and Daddy’s language is Bahasa. So their signal for which language to speak in will be dependent upon the person they address.
If you have any good ideas that you have implemented successfully with your child, please share it with me, with all of us, so that we can try it out on our own children.
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