Mathematics Year 5 workbook - can you detect the errors?

In my previous post Buying Workbooks For Your Kids, I've mentioned about a publisher who published poor quality Mathematics workbook.

I was at a bookshop in Petaling Jaya few weeks ago. As I was browsing through some new workbooks, I came across a new series of books published under an unfamiliar name.

Since we are in our 5th year of using Maths and Science in English, I chose their Mathematics Year 5 workbook under the series Infomik UPSR (is there such word as Infomik?). I was completely shocked! I knew the new Year 5 syllabus well because I've just completed writing two new Maths workbooks.

Click on these pictures (including the front cover) and see if you can spot the errors. These are just three pages (yes, there are more mistakes and I'm not talking about typo errors alone). I don't mind if these are just some minor typo errors but incorrect sentences with grammatical errors that pupils might not be able to understand is simply unacceptable.

The most surprising thing is, according to the bookshop owner, this publisher's books got into school list. I hope it's not their Maths workbooks.

At the beginning, I was reluctant to comment about this book, well, since I have to fork out about RM9 (very pricey!) to get hold of this book. But for the sake of the pupils, I couldn't tutup sebelah mata (close one eye).

Fund-raising to build Sakya Institute and kesa sponsorship

Recently, Guru Phurla Rinpoche was here in Malaysia. He has been coming back regularly especially since the setup of his Sakya centre here in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur. In his visit, I've only managed to attend Guru Phurla Rinpoche's teaching of Medicine Buddha and Vajra Kilaya.

If you are trying to look for any English website about Guru Phurla Rinpoche, you won't be able to find one (yes, there's none). I think this is simply because he is a Tibetan/Mandarin-speaker and spreads his dhamma teaching mainly in Taiwan, China, Malaysia and Singapore. I'll try to communicate with Guru Phurla Rinpoche or the committee members at his centres to see if it's possible to have a website for people to access into.

In this visit, Guru Phurla Rinpoche told us that there will be a puja ceremony in August 2007 to raise fund to complete a Sakya Institute (*look at the brochure on the left) for Buddhist Studies located in Ching Hai. Construction couldn't be continued because of insufficient fund. RM230k is needed to complete the building alone.

This Sakya Institute provide a decent environment for lamas (buddhist monks) to study Buddhism. Sponsorships will also enable the institute to provide teaching materials as well as to cover the basic expenses for lamas such as kesa (tibetan robes for monks) and food.

For further enquiry, please contact the following person-in-charge at these Sakya centres:

Taipei, Taiwan:

Taiwan Tibetan Vajrayana Sakya Sherabling Foundation

5F, No.289 Chengde Rd., Sec. 4 Taipei, Taiwan, Ro.O.C.

Tel: 886-2-28822475

Fax: 886-2-28822476

Hp: 0933-879548

Email: phurla.rinpoch@msa.hinet.net

Kaohsiung, Taiwan:

7F, No.175 Foren Rd., Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C.

Tel: 886-7-7245489

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: 012-638 5051 (Ms Choon Lan)

Singapore: 9617 8018 (Ms Phang)

*Please note that my translation of the brochure is not complete simply because I'm not Chinese-educated. So, for more information, drop me a message or contact the Sakya centres above.