A Tragedy is A Tragedy, No Matter Where It Happens

Terror once again descended upon the world when a major earthquake followed by a tsunami wreaked havoc in Japan last week. Everyone panicked and adding to the panic was the fact that it happened on a Friday. But such is the power of the All  Mighty.

Humans can never fathom the vastness of His powers, when He says "Kun", then everythng else does not matter anymore. I am sure we all feel sad for the people of Japan in this times of great mourning, which remind many of us of a similar disaster that happened to the people of Aceh and other parts of the world years ago. 

There are reasons for why the calamity happened to these people, and we, who are lucky enough to still be alive, still breathing the purest of air, still have a place to call home, who are still with the ones that we love, should not be oblivious of the lessons that we can learn from such disaster. We are just a speck of dust under the governance of the All Mighty.

Who are we to say that we are safe, even though the disaster happened thousands of kilometres away? Look around you and tell me how many products from Japan that we are using now? The disaster does not only affect the Japanese, in reality it affects the whole world. And who are we to say that I will not happen to us tomorrow? 

What say you? 

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

A few announcements to make:

Those who had taken the Intensive English Programme (which to me is a good programme for you to master the language quicker than your peers) can now take their certificates as promised to you, at the CEL office at Level 3.

The MUET text books are out of stock, so bravo to those who have bought the book, and for those who missed the boat (meaning: missed the opportunity to buy the book from CEL), you are advised to look for it at any of the bookstore outside. Why not try MPHOnline or Borders or Kinokuniya or other small bookstores around here. There is a new bookstore at Prima Sri Gombak,  Pustaka Rakyat where you can get your daily supplies of books and stationeries (I should be given a commission for promoting these to you)

We have students coming in asking for the MUET slips, but that one you cannot get it from CEL, even if you put knives at our throats because only ACAD has the authority to issue the slips to you. We are only humble lecturers not magicians.

Exam is just around the corner, you can now get the exam schedule either online or if it is not too much for you to walk from the cafe or the lobby or wherever you are, go to the ACAD to check out the schedule. Make sure the exact date and time for your exam because the notices outside the ACAD office were put up for students (that means YOU) to read, not for us lecturers to know.

To double ensure that you will not miss your exam, please print out the exam slip and KEEP IT at your person (which means take it every where you go, even to the restroom) so you will not lose it and then causes doubt to when exactly is the day for your first subject.

I think by now, you should have finished and passed up your second assignments to your respective lecturers and by now you should have concentrated in doing your revisions (so after reading this log out of your Facebook and GET BACK TO YOUR NOTES!) :D

Adios Muchahos (Goodbye, friends)

The Many Colours of the Second Semester

The second semester of 2010/2011 is coming to a close. A lot have happened in the semester, a beloved member of the staff who was the reason some of us came to work every day (apart from you students) left us to try his luck at a greener pasture. But we were not left mourning of his absence for long, for a new member came to fill the empty spot. This new guy adds colour to the already colourful life at CEL with his so called naivety and very unique laugh (which was successfully imitated by one of the female lecturers). And there is another guy lecturer, whose looks, I dare say could rival that of Farid Kamil that adds the number of guy lecturers to a wholesome number of four!

We also have three beautiful additions to the employee list, and with that the department becomes more cheerful and more alive. We had just completed the 23^rd Ibadah Camp for the graduating students this semester, helmed by a very able and the friendliest lecturer in CEL. It was, if I may so, a success and to many of us who never had any experience handling such a camp, it was truly a fun learning process.

We still have students coming to the department asking for lecturers who are teaching Moral and Islamic studies and sometimes lecturers teaching IT subjects!. The signage on the wall clearly says Center for LANGUAGES, not INFORMATION COUNTER! For an umpteenth of times, Moral and Islamic Studies are under the purview of School of Social Science and IT subjects, if I have to spell it out for you, is under S-c-h-o-o-l o-f I-n-f-o-r-m-a-t-i-o-n T-e-c-h-n-o-l-o-g-y. What you need is just to be more alert. That is all.

For those who are oblivious of the reading section that we have at CEL (no matter how many times you come here to send your assignments, to see your lecturers or getting lost on your way to other schools), yes we have that section where you can just sit down and read the books and magazines and other reading materials that we have put on the shelf. If you feel that the library is as noisy, if not noisier than the café, then maybe you can check out a book and spend some quality time with that book at this corner. We are all for making reading as a habit. If you don’t read how are you going to manage your assignments and presentations? Yes, you can always cut and paste from the internet, but that will be insulting your lecturers’ intelligence, won’t it? They will instantly know that you have plagiarised your work and plagiarism is not to be tolerated and you will come away with a zero in that subject.

Since the final exam is just around the corner, I on behalf of other lecturers would like to wish you Happy Studying and All the Best. Our prayers are with you (of course prayers are not enough, Allah wants to see your efforts first before He grants you whatever you asked from Him).

Cheerios!

Yours Sincerely,
Murni Mat Nasri