Smart asian paradox

4th year Finance class is a total bore. Like always lah, I would look right through the professor with a face displaying utter agreement as if I understood whatever that was taught. Second class and I'm already slacking. But yesterday, instead of looking into space, I made an observation.

ASIANS.

What is it that makes asians smart? Is it a mere stereotype or is it a legitimate claim?

I myself am asian. I don't find myself any smarter than any other people. When asked, I'm not embarrassed to tell my friend about my grades. Even with a grade of below C+, my Canadian friends still insist on believing that I am the smart one. WHY.

In that brief 1 hour 20 minute class, without any statistical proof, but through observation and experience, I came to a conclusion that most (not all) asians that are schooled locally are almost always just book-smart.

Back in school, we are taught to write notes properly than to listen carefully. That explains why in class, especially in a western setting, we see asians typically come to class with a set of glasses (as a result of long hours of reading and studying at night I reckon) and a pencil case. A case filled not just with pencils, but with pens of different colours, highlighters, markers, a stapler, bullets for the stapler, ruler, an eraser (sometimes they carry more than one just in case one eraser disappears), pencil lead, mechanical pencil, stickies, glue, and whatnot. I have to admit that my pencil case contains all of the above. Because we write a lot. Our notes are always clear and also got colour-colour sometimes. Our lines are straight sebab pakai ruler. Bila tak cantik, kita padam atau kita 'liquid'. Kita tak cross.

We asians take note-taking seriously. It's a serious business. Dulu siap kena hantar buku nota untuk cikgu cek. Pelik pula bika fikir balik. Fulamak, dapat markah untuk nota 10/10. But it doesn't necessarily mean that we understand the notes. Agree?

On the other hand, we see the mat salleh who come to class, carrying just a pen and a sheet of paper. Ada time they don't even carry a pen. They borrow orang sebelah, or they just sit and listen. They can listen so carefully that they don't need to jot down anything! - well that also depends on the class you attend lah. Anyway, these paperless people also ask a lot of questions. Many times, they ask stupid questions tau. So straightforward but still tak understand. Kabut je rasa kadang-kadang. But once they get their questions answered, they understand on the spot - and they store that information in their heads instantly. You see now the power of asking questions. The power of listening. That's a skill we asians don't usually have - because we have this kebiasaan in us that when we don't understand something, we read lah! If still tak understand, we hafal. So that we can just pass the final exam. Our high school education system kan memang exam-oriented, so many people just hafal but don't necessarily understand. Our mat salleh friends pula, the way they are brought up and schooled is totally different. They are encouraged to ask and to listen, sejak baby lagi.

Dalam LRT tahun lepas dekat Malaysia kan, ada anak melayu ni berumur dalam lingkungan 4-6 tahun duk tanya "Ibu, ibu, tu apa?" Ibunya lantas menjawab "Haish duk diam-diam!". Opposite seat, ada foreigner dengan anaknya yang berumur lebih kurang sama. "Daddy, where are we going? Why are we on the train? Daddy why is the tree moving fast? Daddy!"Ayahnya dengan tersenyum riang, tak putus-putus menjawab setiap soalan tu. Lepastu dia pulak tanya anak dia, "What do you think?" Ha nampak tak? Or is this just me generalizing based on one situation? Entah. Macam selalu je nampak situasi tu. Dekat sini pun anak diorang suka tanya banyak soalan. Kadang-kadang saya yang rasa macam nak suruh dia diam. Mungkin saya pun dah ada that mind-setting?

Back to the asian school setting. We were also taught to question less - indirectly lah. Kalau tanya banyak soalan, mesti orang rasa eh apa dia ni banyak lak tanya. I'm pretty sure, throughout primary and secondary school, there will be at least one time that your question was belittled by the teacher. Culture kita memang begitu ke? Suka memperkecilkan orang lain bila seorang tu tak tahu? Fikir sejenak.

Relay for Life 2011: Donate to Team Malaysia

Relay For Life is back! Kali ni ada option online pledging.

MY PERSONAL PAGE: VOLUNTEER NADA RAHMAN 

Why I Relay

A good friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer few months ago. She's a healthy girl, who doesn't smoke and eats clean. It's true that cancer can happen to anybody. It doesn't choose. I relay for the strong people who survived the battle against cancer and for those who did not make it. I am small girl with a big dream to make the world a better place. I speak for Team Malaysia in participating in this year's Relay For Life (RFL). Every step taken in Relay raises money to help save lives.

Any amount of contribution will be accepted. Big or small - it's the thought that counts! Remember, what you give you get back.

Many small people,

in many small places,

do many small things,

that can alter the face of the world.

- Anonymous

Join us in the battle against cancer by supporting me and my team link: RFL TEAM MALAYSIA. You can click whichever link, team's page or my page - the fund goes to the same account. It's simple and secured. Simply click on the orange "Donate (my name)" button near the upper right side of this page (above the thermometer). Each donation is automatically receipted :)

Wang dana hasil kutipan tidak akan saya salahgunakan. Inshaa Allah, pahala kita semua dilipat gandakan walaupun kecil sumbangan :) Thanks for your support and haaaave a good day!

Winter break 2012 - Ontario

Assalamualaikum! It's been a wonderful winter break. It was one hell of a car ride to Peterborough. 19 painful hours! The journey should have taken only 14 hours max but the roads were too slippery (icy like a hockey rink) due to freezing rain. So we had to maintain a speed of 60 to 90 km/h. Passing by Quebec city, our car termasuk gaung/parit kecil. Kecil je tak besar. Jangan cemas. A truck had to pull the car out while we waited outside in the cold weather. Though, I wonder what happened to our winter. It's been above (-15) degrees Celcius, which is odd. It should've dropped lower by now.

halfway out

at MySukan aka MyCanada Games with team Jangoks @ Scarborough, Ontario.

Anyways, I'm having a good time with my girlfriends. It's been ages since we last gathered like this. Like the old times, when we were all in college, so havoc I tell you. 

We spend most of our times in the kitchen like the makciks we are, watching horror movies while munching on jajan, discussing about marriages, household stuff, sometimes cakap harga pinggan mangkuk and emas lol!

Let's go through a week of my winter break briefly, shall we?

Boxing day sale was bizzare as always. No surprises there. But it was satisfying! I did my shopping at the Toronto Eaton Centre, Toronto's top tourist attraction. Located at the timesquare of the city, the place was crowded forcing people to sit and rest on the floors. Even in the food court, in stores, people had to sit on the floor - and that mall, is a huge mall.

Cannot tahan one, had to take off my boots.

inside Toronto Eaton Centre

Nathan Phillip Sq - Toronto City Hall

Christmas deco inside Toronto Eaton Centre

Christmas trees in Toronto

Went to the Riverview Park && Zoo at Peterborough, Ontario. They've got some North && South American, Himalayan and African animals such as yaks, serval cats, llamas, donkeys, barbary sheep,  and Asian ones too such as the Bactrian camels, wallabies, pythons and many more. Most of them are new to me because they definitely can't be living in our local zoos in Malaysia. To replicate their natural habitat would cost too much, methinks.

Playing Bella in the woods feeling-feeling Twilight. But really I was just in the zoo.

Huge male Bactrian camel

fresh snow!

ready to dive!

Tomorrow, we're going ice skating :)

Don't leap. Make baby steps.

Whereabout: Peterborough and Toronto (Ontario, Canada)
Weather: (-7) degrees Celcius

Bismillahirrohmanirrohim! I wish my readers a blissful day. I am delighted upon setting a new life goal. I hope this paradigm shifting goal will bring joy and barakah. Tolong aminkan? :) Also, this blog will undergo major changes again because I'm the boss of my blog! How much I like posting is how much I like deleting :)

Mass shooting in Connecticut

What did I say about rights? Rights should stay restricted.

Many are expressing their prayers and thoughts after this morning's heart wrenching news of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in, Newtown, Connecticut, USA and stabbing in Henan, China. And many are forcing the US government to revise the second amendment. The second amendment of the United States Bill of Rights: protects the right to possess and use firearms - for individual use such as self defence - and the collective right to bear arms in a militia. I won't go deep into politics because I am not even remotely credible to be talking about politics. But I still hold my ground strong. The belief of having many rights as a citizen, doesn't lead to a freer, a happier country. Sungguh jelak bila dengar diorang mencaci dan mengutuk negara-negara lain yang tak punyai hak dan kebebasan seperti yang diorang ada. Clearly, ignorance dictates their minds. I fought back several times, expressing my belief that things could've been better with regards to rights. Some value my thoughts, and some just prove that to argue with a fool proves there are two. I don't mind people disapproving my point, but to say that they are better than others is just BS.

Newtown is (or should I say was) the safest place in America. Now that the tragedy has poisoned that claim, we all know now, there isn't really a safe place in this world. Bersyukurlah kat Malaysia orang active tembak burung gagak je - that's what abah said. Funny kan but nasib baik.

My condolences to the victims and to the affected families, in Newtown and Henan, China. No child in this world deserves to be traumatized. My prayers go out to suffering children around the world, who are in wars, abused at home, abandoned, etc. I wouldn't know how to react if I was in their place. Ya rabb, jauh kan lah. Not forgetting my young muslim brothers and sisters, who don't even know what it's like to live in peace, to live without war. They are the true soldiers. “La Tahzan Innallaha Ma’ana” - Don’t be sad. Indeed, Allah is with us. [Qur’an 9:40].