Greetings from Batu Ferringhi

Flew yesterday afternoon after a hectic day (Z had her motivational talk at her old school ~ chosen one of three of 2009 SPM high achievers to inspire current SPM candidates.All 3 were debaters who won the national championship so speeches depa memang inspiring..for 17 plus young minds)

I sat with her teachers (sungguh dedikasi walaupun hampir ke umur pencen) and chatted with them about how scholarships are won today (big organisations still favour string of As as point of entry.Then they will look at co-curricular activities at all levels especially international level.Just how much more blood and tears do they want to squeeze out of our young people? At least in the US, you get to choose which line you wanna excel in: sports ke academic...dia tak suruh buat dua-dua! Kesian ke budak2 kita.Takda langsung zaman remaja to look back to except trips to tuition centres, etc)

Anyway, Zafirah will have her phone interview with Shell on Monday.If she does not get it, at least she will have the experience of being interviewed kan? We are still waiting for the other interview results (at least 2 more and another call for another interview).

Now Penang.Sampai je I terus berkejar ke St Gregory for my body massage.Haiyo..lega rasanya.Ini akibat marathon in KL.

I will have to leave early sebab my mom is back in the hospital (high fever) and Nik is still recovering from his eye surgery (he seems fine but needs the wifely support, he says).

The meeting discusses the possibility of having Track 3 for promotion.I tak setuju sgt kalau dipermudahkan nak dapat promotion ni (via community engagement). Haiyo...nanti ada kasta pulak di kalangan Professors kita: yang itu Prof Track 1 (by research whose works are published in high impact journals etc), yang Track 2 (based on excellence in teaching and although still researching and publishing, more weightage is given to teaching) and Track 3 to those doing more in Industrial-University linkage termasuk community engagement (but work must be related to specialisation bukan yang jenis gotong royong tu). Mengarut betul depa ni (it seems US dah lama buat ni.Habis, kalau US terjun laut, kita pun nak tiru?)

I asked if we are turning academics into social workers (bukankah itu kerja NGOs) and just how many hours more do we need to get lebihan gaji celah gigi tu (about RM1K more? You can get more if you do consultancy work!) I'm glad tak lama I nak pencen or have the options of doing other things.Tak suka system mengarut ni. Inilah akibatnya bila kita ada lebihan posts: TNC yang ke empat (industri dan jaringan masyarakat) dan ministry pendidikan sampai dua. Bila takda kerja, mulalah cari kerja!