IT'S A PANDAN LIFE ...!

It is easy to be brave from a safe distance. ~Aesop Tomorrow I'll take the road less traveled And see if it leads to your heart.

Love can consign us to hell or to paradise, but it always takes us somewhere. ~ Paul Coelho After reading Ben Okri’s In Arcadia , I kept on thinking about the writer’s vision of Arcadia. It’s true that the place did exist (as history has proven), and people from all walks of life since antiquity have discussed, imagined, explored, debated, and interpreted this entity called ‘Arcadia’ but ideally, it can only exist in one’s heart. All six characters in this novel have different ideas of what is Arcadia and in the end, the only similarity between these conflicting notions is, Arcadia is just an imaginary idyllic paradise. On earth. You either see it or you don’t. You either feel it or you don’t. Hmm. Nice paradoxes. The minute I finished reading this novel, I began to question: “What is my Arcadia?” I don’t think my definition of Arcadia is any different from Jute’s definition (Jute is one of the characters). Jute thinks that her work is Arcadia. To have work to do, work that you like

If you can read this, thank a teacher. ~ Anonymous Now that the new semester has started, I can’t help but think about those notes that my kids will surely leave on my door. As it is, I’ve already got two. If I were to keep every single note I received throughout the 13 years I have been here, I would have bundles and bundles of them and there would be no way that these bundles would not be obstructing the already limited space in my office. There are actually many reasons why kids leave notes. I've identified four. 1. To ask for class schedule and venue and which group they’re supposed to sign up for. I got lots and lots of these in the past when I taught those English proficiency courses. A common content would be: Puan, saya pelajar dari Fakulti XXX, ingin tahu bila dan dimanakah kelas XXX akan diadakan. Yeah, right. When everything is already in the time table book that has been given to you and the schedule is already pasted on my notice board. At one time, after about 10 or

Oblivious – Not aware of something especially what is happening around you. Ignorant – Not having enough knowledge, understanding or information about something. I don’t know which word best describes me where my neighbourhood is concerned. I am well aware of the developments that have taken place and are taking place in this neighbourhood. Compared to when I first moved in 7 years ago, Bandar Seri Putra has evolved into an almost complete township. It now has, among others, a post office, a police station, a 7E, and rows and rows of all kinds of shops and schools. A government-funded medical centre is also being built. The primary school, which is located very, very near to my house, is now complete and will be open in no time. The sekolah agama is also complete, waiting to be open. The secondary school is probably gonna be complete next year. The developer has also demarcated the site for a mosque. Amen. I am therefore not oblivious where developments in BSP is concerned. Nor am I i