Took off last week for what will be my last dive trip for the year. I got so tanned my foundation powder is at least 2 tones too light for me now.
But it was so worth it.
Frogfish, the cutest little sea creature ever. Everytime I see one I feel like giving it a pinch on its cheeks ^___^
Emperor Angelfish. This is a big one, almost half a metre I suspect. I think he was trying to sleep when I pointed the camera in his face, hehe.
Chromodoris, a type of nudibranch. I really like the colours on this one.
Gold spec jawfish. We wanted to get one with its mouth open but we'd most likely run out of air before that happens. The male would carry the eggs in his mouth until they hatch.
Hypselodoris bullockii, Another type of nudibranch. Looks really beautiful when it "stands".
Saddled toby. Cute buggers but hard to photograph. I noticed they're always eating away.
Halgerda. So cute, ain't it? Saw so many types of nudibranch. I like photographing them coz they don't move that fast ^___^
Sleeping Green Turtle... zzzzz.... Saw several more during my Sipadan dives. They're so beautiful.
Clown Anemonefish, or as I like to call it, Nemo-fish! Awefully shy and kept hiding in the anemone.
Seastar
Jackfish swimming in a school at Barracuda Point. Just ahead of them we saw a school of Chevron Barracudas and chased after them. Barracudas tend to sometimes swim in a circle, thereby creating the infamous vortex. Makes a really awesome picture! However, the school we saw did not create a tight enough vortex but it was still amazing all the same watching its massiveness.
A green turtle with a Batfish as companion swam by above me. Such graceful and gentle creatures. I can't imagine how people could kill them for their meat and harvest their eggs.
The Sipadan Kapalai Dive Resort, built on stilts on the shallow sandbanks of the Ligitan Reefs. The water chalets are standalone units and more than comfy. Bring your own toiletries as they only provide Lux soapbar. The chalet's balcony oversee the open sea and we enjoyed many a cool afternoon breeze and starry night there.
The resort is right in the middle of the ocean and the house reef is a better dive site than a lot of the east coast islands. As all dive resorts, it's full board and all about eat dive and sleep. If you don't snorkel or dive, there's pretty much nothing you can do, except chill. Or eat. Restaurant serves up some really good calamari!
Oh, on our first night there, it rained buckets and the wind was so strong. The windows and doors were slamming and every time the wind blew and the waves crashed against the stilts, the whole chalet trembled! At one point I wondered whether we would be washed away, hehe. Sleepless night that.
All in all, I really love love love the trip and Sipadan is so beautiful. I will definitely go back there again. Until then, I will harry my baby to take up diving so he can go back with me ^___^
IT IS BAHASA AGAIN BUT MORE EMPHASIS WILL BE PLACED ON LEARNING ENGLISH
PUTRAJAYA: The Government has decided to reverse the Teaching of Mathematics and Science in English policy and revert to Bahasa Malaysia in national schools and Chinese and Tamil in vernacular schools.
We're moving backwards and I think it's stupid.
More emphasis would also be placed on English, including the hiring of retired teachers, assistant teachers for bigger classes and having additional periods.
This is all very good for the English language in general, but how often do we use "isosceles triangle" or "dichotomy" in an everyday sentence? How is this going to facilitate the learning of Science or Mathematics in an international environment?
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said this meant that from 2012, students in Years One and Four and Forms One and Four in national primary and secondary schools would study the two subjects in Bahasa Malaysia while those in vernacular schools would be taught in their mother tongue (Chinese and Tamil). “We want to have a ‘soft landing’ which is why we will begin only in 2012. This will allow us time to make the necessary preparations,” he told a press conference at the ministry when announcing the reversal of the ETeMS policy or better known by its Malay acronym, PPSMI.
Asked why the ministry was not starting with a new cohort of Year One students, Muhyiddin who is Education Minister, said there was time to fine-tune the policy.
“There is still two-and-a-half years to prepare. “Some members of the Cabinet made an observation that those in Form Four may be affected but that’s okay because we can still make changes so they continue their studies in two languages,” he said.
What's the hurry? The Form Four students are less than 2 years to SPM. Why make them study in 2 languages? Will the examinations be in Bahasa??
Muhyiddin said the ministry would do “whatever we can to make it as soft as possible for these students.”
“This is why the ministry is staggering the changes that will happen.
“It was quite sudden when the PPSMI was introduced previously,” he said.
The PPSMI policy was implemented in phases, beginning with Year One, Form One and Lower Six students in 2003, under former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s tenure.
The first cohort who completed six years of primary schooling and studied the two subjects in English received their Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) results last year.
Muhyiddin said that to ensure the implementation of the new policy did not affect the first batch (who started studying the two subjects in English in primary school in 2003), they would continue to study Mathematics and Science bilingually (in English and Bahasa Malaysia) until 2014.
He stressed that the reason for the reversal in policy was due to objective considerations and not political ones.
“It was based on empirical studies and other specialist reviews,” he said.
Based on studies conducted in 2008, he said, the ministry found that only a small percentage of teachers fully used English to teach the two subjects.
“On average, the percentage of those using English during Mathematics and Science periods was around 53% to 58%,” he said, adding that only a small number of teachers were proficient.
What he's basically saying is, our teachers are not qualified to teach in English. They can't speak English and therefore they can't teach in English. So, train better teachers! It's not fair that the teachers' shortcomings led to deprive the students of learning the Science and Mathematics subject in English. The faults of the elder led to the damning of the next generation? Muhyiddin said studies carried out by local universities found that students’ mastery level of English during the entire policy was around 3% while the level among rural students was low.
“Based on these observations, the Government is confident that Mathematics and Science should be taught in languages understood by students, which is Bahasa Malaysia in national schools, and Chinese and Tamil in the respective vernacular schools,” he said.
Again, this is not about the English language. This is about scientific and mathematical terminologies. Please get this straight in that thick skull of yours. You can read novels after novels to improve English, but it won't improve the mastery of scientific and mathematical terminologies.
On whether the decision goes against Dr Mahathir’s vision, Muhyiddin said he and senior ministry officials had a three-hour meeting explaining the problems faced by those involved.
And exactly whose interests are involved? Have you consulted the public before making such a decision? Do these senior officials send their kids to public schools, or are they more lucky than most of us?
