the awakening of the Works Ministry

I believe the election is coming soon.

No, it's not about the pay rise for civil servants that our generous government announced earlier this week. I'm talking about potholes!

This morning, while on my way to work, the potholes were still there as usual along the road from Damansara Jaya to Kayu Ara, through the Sony HQ until Kota Damansara. Well, potholes are basically everywhere here in Petaling Jaya.

Then in the late evening on my way back from work, all the potholes were gone! Wow! The people at the Works Ministry must have finally woke up from their sleep. By the way, let me share something with you. The last time I saw our Mr Works Minister taking his nap (no joke!) was during my school's rombongan trip to the Parliament when I was in Form 5.

So the potholes were gone but they will be back. Yes, the potholes will most likely be back in two or three weeks from now. I think the Works Ministry should check on the formula and technique they used to patch the potholes. The quality of the patching job is really bad and requires lots of rework. For example, they keep patching the same pothole in front of SK Damansara Utama and the one on the way to Seapark from SS2.

Nadal gave away the Hamburg Masters and his winning streak to Federer?

So Nadal did not win at Hamburg Masters. He was beaten by Roger Federer 6-2, 2-6, 0-6 in the final and loses his winning streak of 81 matches on clay just before the French Open.

I've just watched the live telecast on ESPN moment ago. Surprisingly, I'm okay with the lose because it seems that Nadal did not put too much effort into winning this championship.

I'm not sure if it's a strategy from Nadal's camp or what but without the pressure to maintain the winning streak throughout the French Open is definitely going to help Nadal concentrate on winning his third Grand Slam at Roland Garros. And losing to Federer is a smart way to lose the winning streak because after all, you are losing to the world number one.

Miss Universe: whose leg is this?

I was flipping through Star Weekend (yes, I still buy the paper for the sake of the 50th anniversary contest) today and I find this picture on the world news rather hilarious.

Adelaine Chin, Miss Malaysia 2007; Maria Jeffery, Miss Belize 2007, and Anna Theresa Licaros, Miss Philippines 2007, pose during the Nextel Event in Mexico City, on May 17th, 2007. The 56th annual Miss Universe competition will be held on May 28th, 2007.

I don't mean to make fun of Ms Philippines but you know what? At first I thought that was her leg. I was thinking, oh my god, see how she sit? Then I look again, oh, that's actually Miss Belize's leg. Sometimes pictures can be so deceiving.

condemn tutors who punish kids

It's been a long time since I write something on education.

I was chatting with my boss how time flies and her kids actually grow up and studying in primary level now. Like any other modern parents, my boss is ready to spend huge sum of money just for their education which includes tuition fees. Being a private tutor for so many years, I'm not surprised by the amount that she forked out. What surprises me was, my boss actually gave permission to her private tutor to punish her son if he doesn't listen or do his work.

I know it's perfectly normal for parents to do that for the good sake of their children. Even my parents asked my teachers to punish or beat me when I was small. But to me it won't work. It will only create fear in their children. Once kids get used to the punishment, they will be immunized and will not give a damn anymore.

What is the best solution? Get a tutor who knows how to motivate your children. Yes, it's easy to say than done (or find). Your children should have a tutor who gives attention to your children not only academically but as well as other things like co-curriculum, interests, etc. In the end, all your children need is not another commander to force them to sit down and study. They need a compassionate tutor who is willing to sit down together and accompany them through the process of learning in a tuition class.

To all the tutors out there, please don't teach if you think you enjoy punishing kids (like asking them to ketuk ketampi hundred times or hit them with rotan until lebam). Please don't teach if you think you are more superior than the kids. Please don't teach if your students hate you or intimidated by you.

To all the parents out there, spend more time with your kids. There are more than life than getting As or earning money. Find balance between your career and your family. Show love and concern to your kids as much as you can. Ask them about their homework and learning in school and get them to open up to you as much as possible. Motivates them. Sometimes, you don't need to motivate your kids by using materials. Motivation can be free of charge.