masterwordsmith-unplugged

I had a lovely lunch with a very old friend whom I had not seen for over a year. Ever since she opened her restaurant called Home's Cafe at D'Piazza, Bayan Lepas, Suan and Guan have been so busy developing their food business. Today, I invited her to another friend's restaurant called Tutti Frutti @ Sungei Dua where we had nutty noodles and gyoza after which we shopped for groceries.



When home again, I sauntered into Malaysia Today and came across THIS ARTICLE called Monsters in the Making and was most appalled by both the level of language and the attitude of the writer as seen in the exchange of the email.

Actually, I laughed a lot at first at this part:

Hi Ms G****,
You have not provided your IM contact as explicitly requested for in the job description.
Thanks,

Dear [employer],
is that IM contact refers to immediate cnt?? If it so, this is my immediate cnt# 01*-********
regards,
g****

Gosh! I was shocked for a few reasons:

1. The absence of proper punctuation in the applicant's email
2. The applicant's ignorance wrt the meaning of IM

Please go to THIS POST and be tickled/shocked or stunned.

Perhaps then you can understand why I decided to quit my job as a lecturer. I taught for nine years at an international school and later moved to a college where I lectured for another none years. It was the last 6 mths at the college in my Sociology class when I realized that if I continued to suffer the nonsense, I would probably go bald and develop serious hypertension.

I still keep in touch with many of my former students I taught in the 1980's and 1990's and will be going for a holiday with them soon by the end of the year in some God-forsaken trek that few would want to visit. Ya, I know I am mad.

Whilst I have fond memories of many of my students, I have had my own share of 'memorable' circumstances with certain students. One particular girl wrote in the appraisal form for my class:

* I wish she would throw away her chronograph watch
* She gives too much homework

I have had students who were exceptionally strange in my class as well. Once, I had this girl from mainland China - a knockout beauty kind of like Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi rolled into one. She would come for lectures in almost 'see-through' tops or very cheongsam-like outfits made of very thin material which left little to the imagination, if you know what I mean.

Suffice to say, it was VERY difficult for the boys to concentrate.

One day, during the ten-minute break I always give for two-hour lectures, she came up to my table and said, "Miss, can we please switch off the air-conditioner?"

I looked up and was shocked by what I saw - really! It was that thin!!!!!!!!

"No!" was my response.

"Where do you come from?" I asked with a sly smile.

"Beijing," she replied.

"Is it very cold there during winter? Is it colder than this lecture room? I asked.

"Yea, very cold, Miss," she answered.

"How did you cope then? I asked.

"I had winter clothing, Miss," she replied.

"Good! Please make sure you bring your winter clothing for the next lecture or you will freeze to death in that contraption," I responded sweetly.

She turned red and walked off.

From that day, she never wore such 'clothing' to my class.

It is not just about clothing - but it is also about manners as can be seen in the letter which came out in Malaysia Today. I had students who came late for my class and who would march in as though they owned the country.

Of course I stopped teaching. The silence was indeed deafening. I never scolded them but I just kept quiet and did not continue the lecture. Fortunately, some of their friends nudged them and whispered to them to apologize. Only after that did I continue the lecture.

Whilst some students may ace many subjects, I cannot say the same for their manners and etiquette. Plagiarism and rudeness are common amongst many.

A lot of it depends on the agents of socialization with whom they come into contact.

Gone are the days when students would give their utmost respect to teachers. I saw the downward slide from the 1980's to the present and I lament this unhealthy trend.

Of course there are the good ones and one bad apple does not spoil the whole bunch.

I cannot help but wonder if the exchange of statements between political leaders have set a bad example for youth to follow.

We live in an instant world - we have instant noodles, instant messages, instant answers and instant rudeness.

Frankly, it is all about attitude and how we regard ourselves and the rest of the world. May there be more love, tolerance, understanding and respect amongst our citizens as we strive to co-exist.

Take care and do leave a comment to share your thoughts.