Pak Pandir Moden

Lili, Linda and I were rolling on the floor, laughing over this term Pak Pandir Moden late in our IOK class.It was a long day for me and it must have been for them as well.We were looking at Syed Naguib al-Attas's chapter on dewesternisation of knowledge and his elaboration on modern Xtianity.Postmodernism came into discussion as well.Byk sgt modern2 nih.I posed the question on who decides on what is good or bad in a secular world.Where do values come from.How did ethics get its virtues? Lili said how folklores also shaped our sense of sensibility and shaped our wisdom.We looked at Nasreddin Hodja and his variants in different cultural settings.Abu Nawas in Malaysia.So you have a wise man and a group of fools.Where would you position Pak Pandir Moden (my question).Kids went blank.You have not heard of Pak Pandir Moden? No, said them in unison.I thought waah...they are too old to be gen y...not knowing who pak pandir moden is.Then Lili or Linda said we don't know pak pandir moden but pak pandir...yes.

I burst laughing first.Then apologised and told them I meant him.Nak pecah perut for a good 5 mins.Gosh...I love teaching and love being so human..so full of flaws! :))

And my PhD students have made wonderful discoveries in our freeway discussions.Ain, for example found human disillusionment with reality in her take on the current fad on magic and fantasy which I hope she will explore further in her thesis.

Yup, it's been a challenging semester ...with workloads and all.But it has also been a superb semester.

Nikmat mana hendak kamu kufurkan?