The Reptozian Online

MIGRATED

2010-09-22T00:34:00.001+08:00

Dear readers and friends,

I have migrated to a new domain called reptoz.com. From today onwards, please visit reptoz.com.

Thank you.

Regards,
Willie

Which Batteries Are Recommended?

2010-09-19T22:30:00.004+08:00

It is true of what people say "learning is an on-going process". When I bought an Olympus digicam two years back, I was happy that I was given a pack of rechargeable battery and a charger called "KEEP" for free. However, after a month, the KEEP batteries started to deteriorate causing me to doubt its quality. I asked my friends about it and most of them told me that Keep is indeed a poor brand.

Before becoming a photo enthusiast, I always assumed that a good battery should be an Energizers battery. And oh well, again, most of my friends warned me that Energizers do not last long and sometimes, if we are unlucky, we might buy the fake Energizers. I guess Energizers batteries are popular because if its aggressive TV marketing and not really because of its quality.

Many photographers recommended me to purchase SANYO batteries for my flash. They said SANYO are the experts in batteries. So, I started to purchase SANYO batteries since that day. The old version looks like this:

And the new version looks like these:

Trust me, These batteries perform so...............good! They last longer and can be recharged up to 1000 times. The eneloop batteries can be found in many photo shops and now even some computer shops started to sell it too.

And finally, if you want SANYO batteries to be recharged fast, please purchase the eneloop charger.

CLOSED

2010-09-16T16:23:00.002+08:00

Oops! Sorry! Just temporarily inactive. Since the author of reptozian online is a teacher. He is on long holiday (2 weeks) . Will visit your blogs soon. No worries. I'm still alive.

Happy Blogging everyone!

Dato Sri Micheal Manyin Ak Jawong

2010-09-06T23:43:00.002+08:00

I was very fortunate to be appointed again as the official photographer for a VIP event. The first time was Datuk James Masing, the second time was Datuk George Chan and this time was Dato Sri Micheal Manyin Ak Jawong, the Minister of Infrastructure Development and Communication. Getting the right photos as not to embbaress the Ministers is important.

THE WAITING BY VILLAGERS

THE ARRIVAL OF DATO SRI MICHEAL MANYIN

I also wrote to the Borneo Post about this event and thanks to Georgette Tan for publishing it. To read the news I wrote, please click here.

A Simple Prayer

2010-09-02T22:34:00.001+08:00

Dear Lord, Give me strength To face turbulence in life,

I know life is not a bed of roses, I know that devils are like roaming lions, But Lord, equip me with your full Armour, and listen to my prayers...Amen.

Sorry guys, some things are best kept secret. Just feel likes writing my prayer in black and white.

Street Photography In a Different Town

2010-08-30T19:36:00.004+08:00

Gee...I missed the photography outing (street photography) organised by Sarawak bloggers, but I'm sure they had a blast shooting people randomly and it looks like Norman is the first one to blog about it. Just click at his name to read about the event.

Well... on the same day, I had my own street photography at my hometown too but I was alone. Heheheh...It was late in the evening when I saw lots of birds flying, trying to settle down on the electric cables to sleep. So I decided to snap photos of them. I set my ISO to the max 1600. And guess what? Still got noise. I think it is time for me to get a better DSLR. What do you think?

Another reason for noise is probably due to the timing. It was a bit too dark. Should have taken the photos earlier. Hehehe

Jolin & Felicia - Kampung Wedding

2010-08-26T21:55:00.002+08:00

It was a three-hour photoshoot session in a kampung at night. The hall was packed and the couple were busy entertaining the guests. Nevertheless, managed to grab hold of their best pose.

Framing Your Photos

2010-08-23T20:09:00.005+08:00

While browsing Facebook a few days ago, I was amazed by photos of DeeLoner, which was taken by a Malay Chap from KL. I was inspired by how he framed his photo. I decided to try out the photo frame myself to see whether I can produce attractive framing for my photos.

You can visit his website to see his nice photos. : Click here.

Respect Other Races

2010-08-20T08:19:00.005+08:00

A few more days, we will be celebrating our Independence day (31 August 2010). I know many of us are looking forward to the holiday and soon on 16 September, we will be celebrating our Malaysia Day.

So, how's life after the independence? No doubt, we have been going through tremendous changes in many ways right? and are you proud to be a Malaysian as I am? The call by our PM to be One Malaysian is probably misunderstood by many Malaysians. Many of us thought that to achieve 1 Malaysia, we need to have a standardized government system, religion, human rights, and culture. Hahahaha! Was that what they were thinking?

Some people have been complaining on sensitive issues when they talk about 1 Malaysia. They questioned "why they need a passport to enter Sarawak when Sarawak is in Malaysia, why the Malays still have their special rights, why is there still a quota for university entry for the non-bumiputera? Oh gosh! All these are already stated and discussed in our constitutions. So there should be no question about them right?

The thing is, 1 Malaysia is all about fostering good will, understanding and tolerance among its people by respecting the differences and treating and accepting the different races well. It is not about standardization on how we do things. Allow me to give you a specific example; language. What we can do to achieve 1 Malaysia, is to learn other people's language. Although I am born Iban, I never restrict myself to the Iban language. But I mix well with the Malays and learn their dialect.

The Sarawak Malay dialect is different from the West Malaysia Malay dialect. Let me demonstrate to you;

DIAM : Senyap or silent (West Malay language)
Tempat tinggal or the place of living (Sarawak Malay dialect)
TANGGA : tangga or ladder (West Malay language)
lihat or see (Sarawak Malay dialect)

LEWAT : lambat or late (West Malay language)
Takkan ler or Why is that? (Sarawak Malay dialect)

Oh well...let us learn each others' language if we really want to foster good relationship among ourselves. And I am sure there are many other ways right?

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Are we excited about little things in life?

2010-08-18T22:57:00.006+08:00

It seems to me that most adults are less appreciative and excited about little things in live as they progress in age. People whom I know today are more keen into money making activities and tend to live a dull life. Probably the reason would be they have more important matters to attend. Ask some of the teachers in my school, whether they would like to join any students activities for fun, such as scrabble competition, computer games and you will hear them saying "Hell no! It's a waste of time" .

It's different for me. I enjoy teaching kids because they are always excited about little things that I ask them to do. If I give them sweets in class, they will jump for joy and run to me asking for them. If I ask them to draw a simple cartoon, they will finish it on time and laugh about it, and if I ask them to cut papers, they will happily cut them for me. Try giving adults sweets, ask them to play a treasure hunt game, or draw a cartoon? How would they respond? Now look at our students below on how excited they were seeing new and little thing...

The neat and tight circle showed that they were really interested and eager in something. But what was it?

The students were giving their 100% attention to the things that they were watching. I'm sure they were excited about it.

Even the female students gave their undivided attention to what was going on. But what was it? it was ....

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

A demo by Firefighters. The teachers were invited to watch this demo, but less than five teachers came and they stayed there for less than ten minutes since they preferred to sit back and enjoy the air-cond. in the staffroom. As official duty is concerned, all the subject teachers should be there until the demo ended to ensure the safety of their respective students.

See? Young people are always excited about little things like this. Am I right? Hahaha!

Little India

2010-08-17T21:43:00.004+08:00

Silent reader? Hmmm..someone told me that some people have been reading my blog secretly. They did not leave any comments in my blog and I wonder why was that. I hope it's not because my blog is boring. Hahaha! But, I really appreciate those who had left their comments in my blog. Without a doubt, the comments had made my blog lively and important.

Now... do you know that there's a little town in Kuching that isn't "silent" at all? It's the India street! (I don't have to tell you what India Street is since I'm no Wikipedia). I usually avoid going there because the place is quite congested especially weekends. But still, despite the jam and crowd, spenders and window shoppers love to go there for shopping and sight seeing. This year, I went there twice and the last visit there was because of the Sarawak Regatta.

(One of the paths leading to India Street)

Although I can get good bargain at India Street, the crowd really pisses me off. I just wish that, less people would go there during weekends and for me, it resembles Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur.

The competition among the sellers is high during weekends. Business owners will sell their stuff outside their shops and shout "mari mari, murah murah!" which means "come! it's cheap!". No doubt, this aggressive marketing strategy is successful in attracting the crowd.

The selection of t-shirts is wide in India Street, so if you are planning to save petrol on going to Serikin, you should try India Street . You can always bargain the price with the business owners. Trust me, sometimes the goods sold on weekends are really cheap.

Can Friendship Last Forever?

2010-08-16T08:33:00.009+08:00

I remember a quote from the Book of Proverbs saying that "the tongue is the hardest thing to tame". Sometimes, before I go to bed, I always reflect upon what I have done for the day, to see whether I have live the day fruitfully or whether I have hurt someone with my words.

A few years back, I had a friend whom I considered as a dear friend of mine. We used to have lunch together and sometimes, I would visit him at his rented house. I thought everything was well with the two of us until recently, he de-listed me from his FaceBook, did not answer my call and did not reply my SMS. We were completely cut off. However, I still see his names appear in other people's FB as their friend. I tried to contact him but he just won't respond. I asked myself these questions "Was he keeping grudges on me? Was there anything wrong I did to him that I didn't know? Was it something I said before?"

I talked to another friend of mine who is his colleague and I got a wonderful response from him. He said "Willie, what is there to lose? You still have many other friends. Friendship don't always last forever". Oh well, what he said was true and I am beginning to accept his advice. St. Paul once said, "forgetting what is behind and focusing on what is ahead of you". I have lost one and I am getting thousands more friends.

And after I came back from Serian yesterday evening, I was kind of surprised to see my son was already fishing with his new-found friend, a 7-year old girl next door. I am happy that my son is now making more friends.

Can Government Vehicles Cut Que?

2010-08-13T07:34:00.009+08:00

Very rare that I blog without photos and for today's entry, I just want to write with the intention of informing the public on the ferry services. I am a regular customer of ferry service because my school is across the river. When queing for ferry, we usually encounter government vehicles cutting que. Of course some of us, who have been waiting there felt uneasy about this. Furthermore, it is stated on the signboard that government vehicles will board the ferry for free and it did not say that they can cut que.

After I bought my Almanac (the government's all year calendar) I saw that there's a call line where the public can complain to Sarawak government pertaining to many issues. It is called the TALIKHIDMAT - phone number 555999. So I decided to call them first. When there was no feedback for three weeks, I decided to e-mail them.

Here's my email:

Click on the e-mail to read the content.

To put it in simple words, yes, all government vehicles, are given priority to board the ferry whether or not there's an emergency. They called me up after the email was sent to me.

Happy Birthday Dad and Mom

2010-08-10T09:28:00.003+08:00

(Happy Birthday Dad and Mom)

My mom is 62 years old and my dad is 59 years old. I know some of us had lost our loved ones and I am writing to show how much I love my parents and appreciate their sacrifices.. I am thankful to God for giving them a good health. This photo was taken during their birthday dinner at Kingwood Inn, Kuching last week.

Before this, I have never spent a lot of money on gifts. This is the first time I spent quite a handsome money to buy a set of Essence watch. I hope they like them.

Happy Birthday Dad and Mom!

What If You Were Asked To...

2010-08-08T22:11:00.006+08:00

"Willie, can you be our photographer for this Saturday staff's meeting? " Now, how would you respond to this question if you are not a person who take photographs for free and the fact that the school will expect you to use your expensive equipment? Oh well, without any hesitation, I answered "Yes, sure, no problem".

As a free lance photographer, unpaid task like this still have a few benefits:
a. To create network. When people see your photos and they love them, you'll get famous.
b. To build rapport. As business people, you need to be friendly to potential clients. When they are comfortable with you, they might need you in future to take wedding photos.
c. To show that you are easy to work with. I like to work with people, I don't want anybody to feel that I am a difficult person to work with.
d. But above all, naturally, I am person who cannot say NO to a request. Hahaha!

Talking about using expensive equipment, since the school will not pay me, I will,
a. use only digicam to take photos.
b. edit a few photos only. But if I were to edit, I will do it seriously. Just look at the photos I edited below,

New Subject in School? Again?

2010-08-06T21:24:00.015+08:00

Time passes very quickly and we are left with four months to go before 2010 ends. I just joined teaching profession in December 2009 and in a blink of eyes, it's already August 2010. No doubt, the first half of 2010 had been very exciting with so many events happened in Kuching and in my school. The bad news is that, the attendance to my scout meeting had shrunk, with students giving a lot of excuses not to come when in fact, I think they are just plain lazy. However, I am still proud of my scout team because, among all other uniformed units in my schools, ours is the most active unit. In fact, we are planning to organise a camp in September.

(My Scout team, among the active members)

Other than getting involve in Scout, teachers are expected to perform other non-teaching duties. Among them are, typing letters, conducting short counseling sessions to problematic students, organize school events such as PTA meetings, Report Card Day, Career talk etc. While studying in a Teachers' Training College (TTC) or in a university, teachers were not trained to handle school events or stress. I think universities and TTC should introduce a new subject called "school event and stress management education" (Oh please! don't take this seriously, I am writing an irony here).

Well, why do I say so? the recent news I read today in the Borneo Post, the government is planning to discuss whether to introduce Reproductive and Social Health Education in school. I'm sure this idea did not fall from the sky right? It probably arises from the increasing pregnant cases among schoolchildren. Before I proceed, I hope the government is open to public criticism.

Don't you know that teachers have been asked to teach some subjects which are not their field?. The sad fact is, new subjects are brought into schools without planning the manpower. I pity those students who are not taught by the experts. Teachers are not superhuman who can teach new subject instantly. In other words "they are not Mr Know It All". Imagine this; "Can a computer expert cure the sick in hospitals? Only doctors can do that!".

The constant interruptions and changes in our education system is like a harassment to me. What we need isn't something new, but to strengthen the current system. The press release made by the Sarawak Teachers Union president, William Ghani Bina impressed me. He said "Schools not World Hospital". What he meant was, schools are not the place to cure social ills. The best place to cure social ills is at home.

The complete info on this proposal is in here > http://whenteacherspeaks.blogspot.com

Are babies blessings?

2010-08-04T22:47:00.011+08:00

A few days ago, I blogged about the lost of my good friend, Mr Ratino. A photo of him was posted in my friend's facebook and there were a lot of comments made by facebook users on him. Counting the comments, it seems that facebook is more popular than blogging, which explains why it contains many advertisements. What happen to friendster anyway? It used to be a popular networking website before right?

Have you ever heard of a quite popular saying that says "people come and people go". To some of us right now, we might be feeling remorse or in the midst of mourning for someone whom we have just lost. But to some people, they are now celebrating someone new into the family.

These two are my colleagues and I must thank them for their willingness to pose for me. Natalie came back to work last month, after she safely delivered her third baby and Stephanie is waiting to deliver her first baby. These two moms, right now, are among the happiest moms on earth right now.

But, on the other hand, we are hearing reports saying that young moms dumped their babies on the street. I seriously condemn those mothers! I do not think that babies deserve to die for their parents' sinful act.

The government of Melacca had just announced they will allow, schoolchildren age 14-18 to get married and have babies. The government will open a special school for pregnant students to complete their studies and will give RM500 to them to perform the holy matrimony if they are poor. They said by doing this, it will reduce the divorce rate, the number of single mothers and immoral activities among students.

Nevertheless, this ruling had created an uproar among many parents because they think that children are not ready financially, emotionally and mentally to manage a family. Don't you think it is a waste of public fund to build a special school too? But oh well...I let you decide and think yeah?

A Tribute to the Late Mr Ratino

2010-08-02T00:35:00.010+08:00

On Saturday night, I went to one of the bloggers' wedding at Kuching Park hotel. I was seated together with Cyril and he threw me a question on why I blog. I told him that I blog because I want to keep memories of my family members online so that if I passed away unexpectedly, my family would be able to read all the good things that I had written about them. I continued the conversation by telling him that we can never know when God will take our lives away from this world. Little that I know that, a friend who is so dear to me, Mr Ratino Sukarno ,was critically sicked and he passed away the next day (Sunday, 1 August 2010) at 3.45 pm.

I received an SMS from a friend today telling me that he was in a critical condition at Serian hospital. And at 4.00 pm, I received a phone call from another friend informing me that he had passed away. Upon hearing the news, I did not wait long. I took my car keys and drove over to his house. My jaw dropped, my eyes became teary and I was totally speechless when I saw a cold and lifeless body of him lying on the floor. I could not stop my tears from rolling down to my cheeks. I just could not believe that I had just lost a good friend.

(Rusmah and Ratino in 2008)

Ratino and Rusmah became my colleagues in 2005 at PPKS as lecturers. If I'm not mistaken, they got married to each other in 2006. Ratino was a very humble person and he was a man of integrity. That was why, I really enjoyed his company. In just three years with PPKS, his hard work paid off and he was promoted to a managerial post in PPKS.

Ratino took his job seriously. He started the oil palm plantation course in PPKS and he brought many students into PPKS. However, even though he contributed a lot to PPKS positive growth, he was never an arrogant man.

He valued his colleagues and always participated in PPKS social activities. He was always keen to help his friends when they needed help. I think that was why many of his colleagues were with him when he was dying in the hospital.

I still remembered Rusmah, his wife, showed their wedding photos to me from the office PC before I left PPKS. Her face was glowing when she shared her happy moments with me. But today, I can feel that Rusmah's heart and dreams are shattered because Rusmah and Ratino enjoyed their marriage life for only 4-5 years and their eldest child is only 2 years old. The youngest is still in Rusmah's womb.

I just could not sleep tonight thinking about them. So I decided to write this as a tribute to Mr Ratino. May his soul rest in peace.

Mr Ratino will be buried at Kpg Jawa Menaul, Serian on 2nd August 2010.

Sarawak Regatta 2010

2010-07-31T23:15:00.004+08:00

Hooray! Sarawak Regatta (Boat Race) is here again in Kuching. The event started from 29 July to 1 August 2010. Believe it or not, this was my first time seeing the race live from my own lens. The theme of the race was "Race for Peace". It was an exciting events as thousands of locals and tourists gathered at Kuching Waterfront to watch this event. The road was blocked by police officers so I had to park my car quite a distance and walked to Kuching Waterfront. When I reached there, I was already sweating but thank goodness, the weather was merciful to us. It was not raining and it was not really hot.

(Sale! Sales! Sales in the middle of the road)

(Race! Race! Race!)

(Boat race taiko! Don't play play o...hahaha!)

(Grand Margherita Hotel)

I'm No FooL! Scammers!

2010-07-30T07:15:00.003+08:00

Yeah...you heard me. I'm no fool! I hate those credit card scammers. They think I do not know their tricks? Well, let me share you a story.

Few weeks ago I received a few phone calls from private and personal numbers. He or She claimed that she's from a credit card company who would like to check on the security of my credit card. As the conversation went on, he/she started asking

a. Which bank is my credit card from?
b. Is it a visa or Mastercard?
c. What's the credit card number?
d. What's the expiry date?
e. And finally, what's the last three digits number?

Sounds like, he's making an online purchase right?

When I was called for the first time, I gave the answers to a,b,c,d. I almost got cheated. But then, when the person started to ask for my last three digits number, I refused and he/she was upset! Hahahah!

I then called up the credit card centre complaining to them about this. The real credit card officer told me that a credit card company will not call its customers to check on their credit card. Whalla!

But the thing was...where did they get my phone numbers and my name? Did my forms that I filled in somewhere before fell into the wrong hands? or did someone from the credit card company stole my information?

p/s: What would you do if you were called? Will you play around with them by giving them fake numbers? Hahaha!

Kids Creativity Corner, The Spring

2010-07-27T06:47:00.005+08:00

If i'm in Kuching for weekends, the must visit place is The Spring. It is for a very simple reason - it has a "Kids Creativity Corner". I always encourage my son to speak his mind and also play with educational toys so that he will be a smart student in future. And to develop his creativity, I would bring him to do a colouring activity. He loves it and he always asked for it when it comes to weekends. What about you? What would you do to help your child learn?

City Chain Kept Their Promises

2010-07-25T22:47:00.003+08:00

(One of my favourite and expensive watches)

How many of you have experienced the disappointment when a shop where you purchased your item, promised to assist you when your item broke but in real fact they did not? Well...I have, especially electrical goods. However, it is a different story with City Chain.

Recently, the glass of my watch broke. I accidentally dropped it from the sofa. So, in April 2010, I sent it back to City Chain, The Spring, where I bought it two years ago. The staff promised me before that if anything happened to the watch, I can always send it to the shop for repair.

Whalla! True enough! When I sent it to them, they accepted it without any question and they promised to get it fix in three months. I was so happy tto hear it, since the watch is my favourite. After three months, it is fixed! they called me up to collect it and it only cost me RM25 to replace the glass in KL.

I must thank City Chain for their good services. I would really recommend this shop, located in The Spring, Kuching, to those who are thinking of buying high quality watches. You won't regret it.

Tying Knots

2010-07-24T07:07:00.003+08:00

The popularity of Scout is really low in many schools. Probably because it is among the first association formed in schools and students are getting bored of it. With the cut in education budget, our Scout team felt the pinch because we could no longer do outdoor activities beyond the school compound.

However, despite the budget cut I always try to provide interesting activities to my students. This week, my colleague and I had decided to teach our students to tie knots. Surprisingly, they really enjoyed the activity.

we asked them to display their knots on paper.

Students busy trying out the knots.

The Fruitcake Special

2010-07-22T07:12:00.005+08:00

The Ministry of Education has introduced a new set of English literature to our students. One of the short stories that need to be taught is "The Fruitcake Special". It is a story about Anna, who is a Chemist, invented a special perfume mixed with a fruitcake. Whenever she wears it, men will get attracted to her although she is a plain looking woman.

As I was eating in an Asajaya cafe, I came across a bakery and I asked myself "Why not buy a birthday cake for my students?" "I want them to know the smell and taste of a cake while learning the fruitcake special story" I said to my friend. He laughed at my idea but he loved the idea because it will make learning fun and lively.

True enough, when I brought and gave the cake to my students, they had big smiles on their faces and throughout the lesson, they paid attention to whatever I was telling them. Hahahaha! there's a magic in the cake huh?

p/s: This post is also available at http://whenteacherspeaks.blogspot.com

Transcend Portable Hard Drive

2010-07-20T20:54:00.003+08:00

My brother-in-law, my wife and myself, bought three Compaq brand laptops but unfortunately, in less than two years, two of the laptops had damaged. Thinking that my last Compaq laptop might end its life soon, I bought my first portable Hard Drive. I am going to transfer all my data from my laptop to this hard drive as quickly as possible. After we lost our trust on Compaq brand, my wife had decided to purchase Acer laptop and she just did!

What do you think? Is Transcend brand reliable?