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(Prepared by Azuan Ahmad of Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia)

 

INTRODUCTION

The differences between Malaysian English or more popularly Manglish, the form of street Malaysian English spoken by most Malaysians and British English, which for the purposes of this assignment is assumed to be the form of English spoken in south east England, used by the British Government and the BBC and widely understood in other parts of the United Kingdom.

Malaysian English (MyE) or formally known as Malaysian Standard English (MySE) is a form of English used and spoken in Malaysia as a second language. Malaysian English should not be confused with Malaysian Colloquial English which is famously known as Manglish or Street English, a portmanteau of the word Malay and English although mostly spoken by the non-Malays.

It is necessary to make a distinction between Manglish and the English spoken by Malaysians speaking so-called proper English. While there are still certain peculiarities in the latter (especially in terms of intonation, accent and choice of words), proper Malaysian English is merely a normal variation in the way English is spoken and does not deviate significantly from common English. It is intelligible to most English-speaking peoples around the world.

Pure Manglish however can be likened to pidgin English, and it is usually barely understandable to most speakers of English, except Singaporeans who also speak a similar patois known as Singlish.

 

THE DATA

AMERICAN ENGLISH TRANSCRIPT

  (View the video file here) 

SCENE 1

Tapion:   Stay Back!

Trunks:    Awesome!

Tapion:    Was it you who revived me? You’re most welcome.

Wizard:    Nice to have some land room after a thousand years huh?

Tapion:    You old fool. Send me back!

Wizard:    Not an option, now that the music box has been destroyed haha.

Goku   :   Hi there! You must be Tapion, my name is Goku. We had a hard time getting you out.

Tapion:    Do you have any idea what you have done? Well do you? I don’t know that I can stop him this time.

Goku  :     What do you mean?

Trunks:     I want to be just like him.

Bulma :    Take it easy trunks. We know nothing about this guy except that he has trouble saying thank you.

Trunks:    Tapion! Wait…

Bulma :    Trunks come back here.

 

 

SCENE 2

Bulma :       If its too difficult, we can talk later.

Tapion:       No. But to explain my story I must start with his… Hoi was a member of the Kashfa, power hungry aliens who believe themselves to be the surerior specie of the universe. For aeons they have traveled the stars using their dark magic to hunt down and exterminate all life forms different from their own. On Converous they revived an evil long thought destroyed by my ancestors, Darudagad, a benevolent assassin that consume his victims and prison their life force.

Bulma :       I should have known he was a villain. Those whiskers are dead give away.

Tapion:       Yeah.. He murdered half of our population.

Bulma :       Just when you think intolerance can get any worse than it is. So how did your world handle such an incredible threat?

Tapion:       It wasn’t until we stumble upon an enchanted sword that we realized we even have a chance.

Bulma :       Oh my gosh! Is that is?

Tapion:       Hmm… A wizard found it in the oasis along with the blade to a carina were discovered. My brother and I used it in hope of distracting the beast. They must have been enchanted as well for neither one of us knew how to play. The melody seemed to consume Darudagad with rage. But try as he might, the beast can do us no harm. And that moment, the wizard took up the sword and charged. The monster barely has the time to react for the blade cut him into two.

 

MALAYSIAN ENGLISH TRANSCRIPT

 (View the video file here)

SCENE 1

Goku:         The dragon seems to have problems.

Chichi:        He just wanted to play.

Lord:          Goku…

Goku:         Yes, my lord.

Lord:          Listen. A troublesome thing had happened.

Goku:         Troublesome?

Lord:          A troublesome tree that is called the Shinri tree was planted on the Earth.

Goku:         Shinri tree?

Lord:          Originally the one who is allowed to eat its fruit is only gods.

 

SCENE 2

Gohan:       Daddy?

Terrus:        I see. So, you are the son of Kakaroct.

Gohan:       And you are not my father.

Terrus:        If you want to know Kakaroct and I are similar because we the lower combatants don’t have many types. Your fighting strength is ten thousand. So as I’ve been expected, you inherited the blood of Saiya people.

Gohan:       But who are you?

Terrus:        I am the Saiya people.

Gohan:       What? Saiya people?

Terrus:        Yeah. My name is Terrus.

Gohan:       Terrus?

Terrus:        Hey, kid. Don’t you like to come with me? We can wonder selfishly in the universe, destroy whatever we like, eat delicious food and drink delicious liquor. There’s nothing like this enjoyable life.

Gohan:       Who wants to come with you?

Terrus:        Hey, boy. Don’t be a stupid fool. We are a few colleagues Saiya people who survived. Let’s be friends. You see this beautiful blue star is going to change into a reddish brown star. So you better come with me or do you want to die as you are? Something is coming. The fighting strength is eighteen thousand. Who is it? Who are you?

Gohan:       Pikoru…

Pikoru:       Take your hand off from Pikoru

Terrus:        What are you going to do if I refuse?

Pikoru:       I’m not kidding!

Gohan:       Pikoru…

Pikoru:       Are you alright?

Gohan:       Yes, I’m alright.

 

SCENE 3

Terrus:        Kakaroct, you must come back to the Saiya people.

Goku:         I’m not Kakaroct. I’m Son Goku.

Man 1:       Lord Terrus, please let us fight him alone.

Man 2:       Hey, these guys seem to be really good but they are not good enough to fight with us.

Man 3:       Anyway we must be alert with him.

Goku:         You people stand aside.

Man 1:       Don’t make light of us.

Terrus:        You have a good chance of defeating them. You think you can defeat me?

Goku:         You die!

Terrus:        Kakaroct, listen. If you give up to me, I will promise you and you son to join us as a part of our Fenbar.

Goku:         I told you before. I’m not Kakaroct.

Terrus:        Do you think that you can defeat me who has been eating the fruit of Shinri tree? There is a big difference between your power and my power.

Goku:         We won’t know unless we try, Terrus.

Terrus:        You can’t be my rival with such power, Kakaroct. I’ll make you grave in the middle of this star which is changing to a desert. This is a gift for you from me who was born with the same Saiya people. Your power is still only that much while we enjoy a little bit more.

Goku:         Kyoken up to ten times.

Terrus:        Say you’d give up. I will forgive you if you ask me to spare your life.

Goku:         I’ve made a promise with Gohan. I said that I must defeat you.

Terrus:        So, you think you can, Kakaroct?

Gohan:       I’m Son Goku.

Terrus:        Then, you’d better die. He is a lower combatant. He is not useful, but I’m different. Now, I’m going to make the whole universe cry with the fruit of Shinri tree.

 

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

SYLLABLE

A syllable is a partition of a word based on its sound of the pronunciation, or in other languages, would be its spelling as well. Oriental languages, such as Chinese and Japanese, construct their alphabet based on the syllables as they do not have letters to represent phonemes. An English word may comprise of one single syllable such as in ‘me’ or multiple syllables such as in ‘antiestablishmentarianism’.

            In American English, the consonant clusters of the onset and coda may be of more than one consonant. A complex form will be the Complex Consonant Clusters or CCC, for the onset. Such words, taken from the audio recording, would be ‘strong.’ However, in Malaysian English, such criterion is somewhat a new thing. This case is more obvious when it deals with a complex coda. As analyzed prior to this, the word ‘strengths’ may be pronounced as ‘streng,’ dropping the ‘th’ and ‘s’. The elision of these two sounds may be due to the complexity of the consonant clusters. Another simple example would be the word ‘thousand.’ A Malaysian English speaker would change the ‘th’ to ‘t’ and instead of ‘-nd,’ the user would end the word with just ‘-n.’ As known, Malaysia is consisted of Asia-originated peoples, whom mother tongues have simple consonant clusters. This may be resulted from the influence of their first languages.

            One significant feature in English is the existence of weak and strong syllables. This is not present in Malay, Mandarin and Tamil languages. This characteristic of English language brings forward stress, intonation, etc. into the language. The rule of thumb for English weak syllable is the use of schwas. However, in Malay language, ‘ah’ sound is more common. Syllabic consonant may also be another form of a weak syllable.

            The nature of many Asian languages contradicts with the existence of syllabic consonants in English. Thus, this leads to production of schwa preceding a supposed syllabic consonant. From our analysis, Malaysian English speaker tend to say ‘pi:pəl’ with a schwa in the second syllable. A native speaker may hear this pronunciation as awkward.

 

STRESS

            Stress, in English, may be produced by having different loudness, length, pitch and quality. This feature is not available in most Asian tongues. So, it is not a surprised if a Malaysian English user tends to omit this part. He or she may not even realize the existence of this crucial part of English pronunciation. They may not be able to distinguish the difference in pronouncing ‘written’ and ‘returned.’

            After accomplishing the task given, we have found out that stress is the most obvious mistakes made by Malaysians.    Even some of those who have been educated on this matter would tend to lose or fail to produce distinguishable stresses when it comes to application. As an example, in the transcriptions that we have made, Malaysian English would say ‘fighting’ with a longer and stressed second syllable.

 

WEAK FORMS

            English words may have more than one pronunciation, even for the same use and meaning. Usually, the functional free morphemes such as pronouns, auxiliary verbs and conjunctions have a weak and a strong form. These weak forms are used in daily informal and formal speeches. The strong forms are used only when to give a stress to a certain word. A speech with all strong forms would sound mechanical and unnatural to the ears of a native English speaker.

            In the transcriptions that we have prepared, the American English users would use weak forms through out the dialogues. However, Malaysian English users would simply follow the spelling, instead of the forms. So, the strong form of ‘have’ is widely used in the latter as compared to its weak form by the former. The speech does sound rigid and fake. Another example from the dialogue is when a Malaysian speaking English that use the strong form of ‘us’ in the sentence, that making it sounds as stressed at an inappropriate place.

 

CONNECTED SPEECH

            To a new English language learner, connected speech would certainly be something that they are unheard of, let alone know. However, it is crucial for the learners to from time to time learn and acquire the skills in conversing and understanding English that applies connected speech – elision, assimilation or linking.

            English is a language with rhythm. Even if the intonation is not for every word, it exists in the whole sentence structure, so that it will convey a more vivid message compared to written English. To a native speaker, connected speech would be at the tip of their tongue. However, to a second language user, this system may barely be recognized even start at their ears threshold. To a first language speaker, elisions, assimilations and linking are the tools and equipment for the aesthetic value for their language. English without these would be not only dull, but also unnatural.

            The over American English recording, it can be seen how elision is used naturally. “Must start”, for example, is pronounce with a shared ‘-st-‘ for the two words. One assimilation example would be “I want to be” that is said as “ΛwΛnΛbi.” “Member of,” an example for linking, would not longer holds a silent `r’, for it is used to link the two words. This pattern is hardly seen in the Malaysian English dialogue.     

 

DISCUSSION

            The first thing that is obvious and clear is the aspect of phonology used in both accents. Malaysian English tends to drop the stress, weak and strong syllables, and weak forms of certain words. The analysis has shown how such small difference would not only contribute to misleading definition of what the speaker is trying to convey, but also would create a miscommunication if a native speaker fails to comprehend. When a Malaysian neglects to apply these parts of phonology, the words they say may take a different meaning, or the intonation might be distorted from a sincere gesture turn into sarcastic, so to speak.

            This speech pattern is unfortunately common in the country. Mostly, the groups of people who would misarticulate English words and misuse its stress system are the ones who are only book smart. As educated as they can be, either local or oversea graduate, failure to converse in good English is undeniably striking among professional Malaysians. They might be engineers with resounding English technical reports, but poor ability to talk in English as par with their written works, or an English teacher in a suburban school who has never improved his or her proficiency in English. These people would be among of those who use minimal amount of English in their daily lives, strictly for work, during office hour, if not less. They have more tendencies to mingle with others who speak with those of their mother tongue, even if there are native English speakers or other more proficient users around. This would only help a little in polishing their accuracy and fluency in the language. In the end, their English would only based on the words they read in books, newspapers, magazines and novels, without knowing the correct pronunciation, intonation and stress. They will then generalize the spellings to certain pronunciation, as they would put them in a same bandwagon when they spell in their first language. Hence, this leads to unreal sounds of words. No matter how many reading materials these people are exposed to, if they refuse to learn the correct way to say the words, either through conversations, listening to songs or movies, Malaysian English will stay broken as it is now.

            English with Malaysian accent is acceptable, because it reflects the identity of the speaker, without butchering the beauty of the language itself. However, Malaysian English with incorrect grammar, improper use of stress and inaccurate articulation would only disgrace the country as a sign of failure to educate the people with proper English. Malaysians should be encouraged to learn how to speak as close as a native American or British would, if the exact resemblance is next to impossible. It is not to become a person of other nationhood, but in order to use others’ languages, their system should be reserved and respected. Any Malay would be annoyed if their Bahasa Melayu is misused by a foreigner, so would an English person be.

            The recordings that we had had shown two types of English users; American and Malaysian. Although Malaysia is a Commonwealth country and its English is founded during the colonial times, the influence of American English is very obvious lately especially through mass media: movies, songs, to name but a few. So, it is safe to say that American English is not an alien among Malaysians, even among those who have the slightest idea about English. Those who would know only ‘yes’, ‘no’ and ‘thank you’ here would easily point out that American English is more popular than British English in Malaysia, even though the latter is the formal one used at schools, news broadcastings and the business realm. However, the problem does not lie in the question of which should be used: British or American English. The main concern that the curricular should bare in mind is Malaysian English itself.

            Malaysian English, and Manglish, should not be considered as an official language although the use may motivate more Malaysians to converse in the language. The reason beings, the negligence of Malaysian English users especially when it comes to oral would create a chaotic impact. Any Tom, Dick and Harry from the States or the United Kingdom would find a hard time to understand Malaysian English. This might also be a reason why subtitles are needed in some television programmes even when the non-native speaker use English.

            In order to shape and nurture Malaysians’ English proficiency, the national educational system should reconstruct its system when teaching English. The curricular should expose the students with a first language user instead of only their teachers. Listening exercises in classes or even in the MUET should be conducted in proper Standard American-British English. This would give the students more opportunity and exposure of how would a real English speaker would converse. Other than just teach the students vocabularies, pronunciation of the words along with correct stress patterns, should be taught as well.

 

CONCLUSION

            The assignment has managed to open the eyes of the students on how more they have to improve in their spoken English. It gives a clear display of how our Malaysian speakers need still to enhance their ability in using English, and it is still a long way to go. Malaysians should be alert of their pronunciation and use of stress.

            The assignment has also managed to summarize about the significant difference between Malaysian English with SABE:

 

Pronunciation

In Malaysian English, the last syllable of a word is sometimes not pronounced with the strength that it would be in British English.

Also, /p/ and /f/ are sometimes pronounced somewhat similarly among speakers of Malay descent. For example, the two Malay names ‘Fazlin’ and ‘Pazlin’ may sound almost identical when spoken by Malays, whereas this confusion would not arise when spoken by a British Speaker.

 

Features

• Malaysian English is generally non-rhotic.
• Malaysian English originates from British English, back then in the British Colonial Period.
• It has components of American English, Malay, Chinese, Indian, and other languages: vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar.
• Unlike northern English, English and most forms of American English, Malaysian English employs a broad A accent, so words like bath and chance appear with /a:/ and not /æ/.
• The /t/ phoneme in words like butter is usually not flapped (as in most forms of American English) or realised as a glottal stop (as in some other forms of English, including Cockney).
• There is no h-dropping in words like head.
• Malaysian English does not have ‘y’ dropping after /n/, /t/ and /d/. Hence, for example, new, tune and dune are pronounced /nju;/, /tju;n/ and /dju;n/ rather than /nu;/, /tu;n/ and /du;n/. This contrasts with many East Anglian and East Midland varieties of English and with most forms of American English.

(Prepared by Azuan Ahmad of Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia)

 

 

1.0     INTRODUCTION

 

News all over the world has covered scoops after scoops about teacher-student sexual misconducts. This issue covers both the consensual and non-consensual. There have been records that would involve male teachers with female students, the vice versa and the same gender. It is very shameful that these teachers who have done these unethical actions were actually the people who were trusted most by the students, parents and nations. As the Malay saying goes ‘the fence is to protect, but it is the one that has been gazing on the paddy,’ those teachers have failed not only their profession, but also themselves actually. This matter may be due to many factors which include dysfunctional families, lack of moral emphasis in the educational system and even stressful working environment. Sadly, this problem has caused many unwanted effects. It will not only jeopardize the students’ future, bring shame to the teachers’ families and careers, but this immoral conduct would also be considered as illegal. The offenders can be put behind bars. As a school counsellor, prevention, remedial and crisis intervention approaches should be used in order to assist in curbing and curing the situation.

 

 

2.0     DEFINITION OF TERMS/CONCEPTS

 

 

Sexual activity: Any form of physical activities of sex that would include vaginal, oral, anal or any other means.

 

Sex offender: Someone who is guilty of a crime related to sex.

 

Sexual misconduct: An unethical relationship between two parties which are not supposed to have such intimate connection as perceived by the law, religion or the community’s norm. (E.g. teacher-student, employee-employer, coach-athlete, etc.)

 

Consensual: Wanted and agreed by both parties

 

Minor: A child aged below 18 years old who are considered legally unable to make decisions for themselves in matters of having sex, choosing religions, voting, owning properties, changing citizenship, etc. If a minor caught doing a crime, he or she would not be sent to prison, but a correction facility for juvenile delinquents until they are legally blameable.

 

Statutory rape: A consensual sexual activity that is illegal according to law. (E.g. an adult with a minor, a mentally disabled person or an animal)

 

Paedophile: Someone who is sexually attracted to children, usually pre-puberty children.

 

Ephebophilie: Someone who is sexually attracted to post-puberty children of 18 years old or younger.

 

Hypersexuality: A controversial phenomenon in which individuals report being unable to manage their sexual behaviour. It has also been called “sex addiction,” “sexual dependency” and “sexual compulsivity.” Sceptics believe it is actually a product of media, cultural and societal influences rather than a disorder.

 

 

 

 

3.0     ELABORATION OF THE ISSUES

 

Teachers and students are supposedly to have a professional relationship. The teacher is allowed to be a caring one, but there is always a boundary that he or she should not cross when it comes to being intimate and friendly. The society would depend on the teacher to be the ‘bigger man’ in this matter by being responsible enough not allowing such abomination from happening. However, there are still few black sheep in the family. They would break this trust and conduct sinfully. These sex offences may occur between a teacher and a consensual student, or a reluctant victim. It can either be heterosexual or homosexual as well. Here are a few real life cases of teacher-student sexual misconducts.

 

A Male Teacher and a Non-consensual Female Student

52-year-old Mohd Nasir Ab Rahman was a teacher from Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Recently, he was brought before of the Session Court judge for being accused of an attempted molest and rape of a student. This happened between March and April 2007 within compound of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Rantau Panjang. The offender pleaded not guilty to all three charges against him. The police also reported that they have found pornographic pictures in his hand phone and laptop. Surprisingly, the court allowed the accused to be bailed with RM 10,000 and a guarantor.

 

A Male Teacher and Non-Consensual and Consensual Female Students

Some sex offenders would not just stop at sex, but also exploit their victims to make money on-line. Other than having sexual intercourse with them, Dennis Peterson, 50, would persuade several teenage girl students at the Sequim Community School to pose nude for photographs he then, in one case, sent to an Internet Web site. Many of them were actually consenting to the activities. It is believed that Peterson took advantage on the students since they were from an alternative public high school with high disciplinary problems. To some of the submissive girls, pre-marital sex with men of any age is nothing new to them. However, being the assigned teacher, Peterson was supposed to bring them to the right path, not misleading them to doing immoral activities with him.

 

A Female Teacher and a Consensual Male Student

A suburban Seattle school district elementary school teacher, Mary Kay Letourneau, was 34, and the married mother of four children in 1996, when she and Vili Fualaau, her sixth grade student entered into a sexual relationship. This news has shocked the whole United States of America as she returned to the boy even after finishing doing her time in the prison. The student was 13 years old when they first started to have sex together. At the age of 16, he had already become a father of two. To Mary and Vili, what they had was love, not rape. They claimed that they had fallen in love with each other, despite their age gap, legal matters and public opinions towards them. Mary was even willing to sacrifice her career when she had been legally enlisted as a registered sex offender. She believed that she had not made anything wrong and strongly stressed that she was not a paedophile. She had no sexual attraction towards other children whatsoever, just that she loved only Vili.

 

A Male Teacher and a Male Student

In Malaysia, sodomy is considered illegal and sinful, even between consensual adults. It is even more perceived as an evil deed when done on a non-consensual minor. A case in Klang recently proved that such abnormal sexual habit cases do happen here in this country. Badrul Akmal Ishak, 30, pleaded not guilty for sodomizing his former student a year ago. The incident occurred at the primary teacher’s house when the boy was then only 14 years of age. The plaintiff requested to the court to withdraw the bail on the defendant to avoid the victim to be harassed before the trial. However, the bail was still set at RM 5,000 plus a guarantor.

 

In my opinion, any sexual misconduct between an adult teacher and an under aged student of any gender, consenting or non-consenting, is still wrong. The child may be the one who suggested, seduced and made the move first, but as an adult, the teacher is presumed to have the morality, knowledge, wisdom and control over the matter. No matter how intriguing the lustful temptation is, the students are actually unable to distinguish the right and the wrong. They are still unable to control their urging hormones and their judgements are not reasonable. They are actually confused. These youngsters tend to confuse between sexual desires and affectionate emotion. This is scientifically proven as the pituitary gland is the same organ that secretes both hormones responsible for the two feelings. Their body, look and sexual desires may be mature, but their cognitive and reasoning skills may not yet be so. It is up to the adults around them to look after, facilitate and give them advice on how to make the right decisions. Yet, these sex offenders took advantage of the minor to fulfil their monstrous desires.

 

Some cases of rape, sodomy and molest occurred again and again without detection. The victims are usually terrified, threatened and ashamed of what have happened to them that they fear to step up. These give the sexual predators the upper hand. Having the advantage of being the teachers and knowing them personally, these wrongdoers play a cunning and manipulative role. That is why it is very important for the parents, school staff and the society to be more perceptive towards the students’ development, behaviours and suspicious signals so that we can detect any sexual assault before it is too late. The students need to know what they have been through is an act of crime done by unexpected adults onto them and need to be reported as soon as possible. They need to know that it was not their fault and they will remain safe even after reporting to the responsible adults.

 

Psychologists have done many researches regarding this matter. They have classified the caused of the problem as hypersexuality. It is a disorder that makes the patient to lose his or her judgement due to strong addiction to sex. Their sexually preferences can be of the opposite gender, or the same. They tend to become paedophiles or ephebophilies since immature children and teenagers are easy preys for them. They can easily lure their victims by offering them love, protection, money and even a chance for them to experience sex, which seems tempting to young adolescents. These children are also considered as an easy access to the predators as their sizes are small and their bodies are not as strong. This factor makes a very strong case for the sex offenders to manipulate, as they can easily overpower the children when they forcefully made sex to them.

 

Most rape cases are done by people familiar to the victims, rather than strangers. Teachers are one of them. They can easily earn the students trust. Some teachers may initially have a good intention. They want to be close with the students to help them better and understand them more. As time passes by, the feeling of caring and friendly becomes intimate, and then attraction, and then love, and finally sexual. The students on the other hand at first perceive the teachers as the people they can trust. They share their secrets, express their feelings and tell their problems to these adults. What was once innocent slowly turned tainted. The students, with their fragile hearts and naive minds, would easily be confused by their emotions and hormones. Their respect towards their teachers then transform into a crush, and then love. They tend to feel warm and relax when being with their beloved teachers. With more and more physical contacts of hugs, caresses and kisses, these young students would hunger for more as they have never experienced and felt that kind of rush before. One thing leads to another, the two would end up having consensual sexual intercourse. Law defines this as a statutory rape.

 

Several steps are taken to curb and to stop teacher-student misconducts. Some school even put a ban on teacher-student messaging, either on the phone or on-line. This has seen as not curing the problem, but just blocking the symptom. This action might also backfire as the students may need to contact their teacher as soon as possible to even report misconducts. Transferring the student or the teacher may not also solve the problem. That would only send the problem to someone else. It might even spread the malady. The best thing to do is actually to let the school counselling unit to play a major role in resolving this matter. The school, parents and surrounding community should be the backbone in assisting this unit in doing their job.

 

 

4.0     DISCUSSION/RECOMMENDATION

 

The school counselling unit can play a major role in the prevention and/or intervention of the teacher-student sexual misconduct cases. The school counsellors can assist any one of the parties involved including the student, the misbehaving teacher, the family, the school and the law enforcer. Below are few interventions that can be done by this unit:

 

4.1     Preventing Strategies

 

Student – The counsellor can educate the students about basic sex education if that is found as a need in the school. As a helper, he or she should also provide one-on-one counselling services to explore the client’s love and crush stories. Preliminary signs can be detected if successful sessions are done properly. Bear in mind that the students must firstly be taught that there should be gap in their relationship with their teachers. It should remain professional, if not just friends.

 

Teacher – The counselling unit should not only open its doors tom students only. It should be competent enough in aiding a fellow teacher in trouble. The school counsellor could conduct a personal counselling session with the teacher that may feel stuck. This might prevent regrettable things from happening.

 

School – As mentioned before, some schools even go to the extent of banning text messaging between students and teachers. This may or may not be helpful as it is almost impossible to detect if this rule is obeyed. However, it’s the school responsibility to make sure no shameful case happens in their compound. Regulation enforcement should be fair and unbiased in making sure that teacher-student misconduct does not occur. The best thing for the school to do is to give the counselling unit its full support and commitment.

 

Family – Parenting is actually on of the consultancy services offered the by the counselling unit. The Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) should make this matter publicized. By promoting this service, parents would then have a place for them to refer to is they suspect their children start to act suspiciously. They should also know that seeing a counsellor for a parenting consultancy does not make them bad parent, but actually a good one since they have the intention to become better. The counsellor could also educate the parents on how to observe their children’s behaviour and detect subtle changes that might be the harbinger to underage sexual activites. Intervention at home may be the best prevention ever in overcoming any unethical teacher-student relationships.

 

 

Community – Counsellors should make outreach programmes and stretch their service to the public. Then, the community would be well informed about the issues and can be the eyes and ears for the unit. Early symptoms can be detected if the whole community take part in curbing this issue from happening. The unit could also request the help from legal bodies to give a talk to the school community about the issues and the consequences if such case happens.

 

4.2     Crisis Intervention Strategies

 

Student – At this stage, the counsellor need to be more proactive. Counselling sessions may need to be done periodically with the victims to help them to cope with the problem. The most important thing for the counsellor need to do is to make sure that the students would make no contact with the offender and avoid the places that may bring back the memories. This intervention can be applied to both consensual and non-consensual victims.

 

Teacher - If the case does not require psychoanalysis, then the counsellor can handle the case themselves. Bear in mind that at this stage, the client is sent by coercion, and he or she will be highly reluctant and resistant. Simple Sigmund Freud’s theory can be applied to understand this lover or assailant childhood for it could most probably help. Counsellors are also advised to be directed in order to be firm and serious in conducting these therapeutic sessions.

 

School – A good principal is the one that can maintain the school scenario even when something as big as teacher-student sexual misconducts happen in their school. The school counselling unit need to keep the school administration in check so that they will know the progress of the intervention. The unit need to constantly remind the school to not to interfere with the case as it might give an advantage to the wrongdoer later in the court.

 

Family – Both the offender’s and the victim’s family should be attended. They would be in a shock and would be having a hard time in accepting and dealing with the problem. They need to be calm down so that the law can take proper action against the guilty party. If no one makes the attempt to approach the families of both sides, unwanted incidents may occur.

 

Community – The counsellors are the middle person between the case and the public. They need to be the eyes and ears to the law enforcement body. They also need to keep their confidentiality ethic as well. This is to stop the media from exploiting the case, thus disturbing the court trials later on.

 

4.3     Correction Strategies

 

Student – For the remedial approach, the counsellor need to monitor the student’s development post-incident. Their morale needs to be reinforced and they need to be kept strong to face the day and the future in front of them. They should not let the sexual contacts that they had in the past to be the hindrance for them to pursue their ambitions. The counselling unit need to make sure that the sessions are done regular and the students need to report their progress.

 

Teacher – If the predatory teacher has been released from the prison, he or she would lose his or her teaching licence, thus the school counsellor has no active role in this situation. However, if the teacher has been found not guilty and comes back for teaching, then this poor victim would need the remediation by the school counselling unit. He or she might have a lowered self-esteemed and would think that people around are mocking his or her condition. The counsellor needs to fortify the teacher’s morale so that he or she could be back on track.

 

School – The counselling unit to prepare the warmest environment for the victim to settle in post-incident. The most immediate environment would be the school. School counsellors need to address the school personnel that they need to be supportive towards the victim. Their support is highly sought.

 

Family – The family also needs to undergo a post-trauma session. The school counselling unit can offer this as they know about the case first hand. Several sessions need to be made and it is advisable if the parents can come with their child during this session. This is to strengthen their family bond and better understand each other’s needs.

 

Community – The community also play an influential role in becoming a part of the remedy in such cases. Programmes should be organized by the school counselling unit with the help of external counselling bodies to approach the community to believe in the victim. Conducive environment is highly essential in making sure that the victims can still feel accepted by the people around them through out the remedial period.

 

 

 

 

5.0     CONCLUSION

 

Teacher-student sexual misconducts are not isolated cases. These kinds of life drama occur in many parts of the world. Although it is considered a taboo to discuss this in public in many cultures, it is very important to have a look at this matter with critical eyes and comprehensive minds. The counselling department need to understand the cause and effect of this matter in order to help preventing this from happening and to assist the victims during their remedial sessions. Whatever the case is, despite the genders involved or the victim’s consent, everybody must take action in order to curb this issue from reoccurring. The counselling unit, the faculty, the classmates, the school administrative, the family institution and the public need to have an open mind that this case is real, it exists and preventable. It should be reminded also that the so-called sexual predators need to be helped as well. They may deserve the punishment, yet they too are the victims of social freedom, entertainment-oriented media, stressful working environment, harsh city life, imbalance development and high socioeconomic demands.

 

 

6.0     REFERENCES

1. Dress, Christina; Johnson, Tama-Lisa; Letourneau, Mary Kay; Mass with Mary: The Prison Years; September 10, 2004
2. ‘Fuyoh’; Guru Tak Mengaku Liwat Bekas Murid, Berita Untuk Warga Pendidik; http://beritapendidik.blogspot.com; January 22, 2009
3. Guru Mengaku Tak Bersalah Cubaan Rogol, Cabul Pelajar; Berita Harian; February 24, 2009
4. Henderson, Martha V.; et al; Preventive Law Curriculum Guide; November 1999
5. Robinson, James; The Mary Kay Letourneau Affair; September 10, 2004
6. Schmidt, John J.; Counselling in Schools – Essential Services and Comprehensive Programmes, Fourth Edition; East Carolina University; 2003
7. Sex Addiction; http://www.wikpedia.org; March 3, 2009
8. Sherise, Anna; Sherise, Ellie; Message Ban Won’t Solve Teacher-Student Sexual Misconduct, http://magnasententia.wordpress.com/2008/07/24/message-ban-won’t-solve-teacher-student-sexual-misconduct; March 3, 2009
9. Skolnik, Sam; Sequim Teacher Convicted Of Sexually Exploiting Minors; Seattle Post-Intelligence; http://www.spiseattle.com; December 20, 2001

My So-Called Blog

My friend one day

Has asked away

Why does my blog talk no big stuff?

And then said he

This shouldn’t be

‘Cause what is here surely not enough.

Those personally

Who know of me

Would ponder why I wrote such posts

From rhymed poetries

To short stories

These matters are just too small to boast.

With friends I walk

I’d normally talk

About wars, environments, economy, world news

Also politics

My usual topics

But then my blog hold no major views.

Instead of AUKU

I chose haiku

For certainly though I actually know more

What’s the deal

For not being real

If you want to know, then hear my lore.

It’s been my routine

Day out, day in

In be involved in dead serious issues

From blogs online

to news headlines

Sometimes these too would make me snooze.

But specifically here

I keep it mere

For this really is my only personal space

This is my home

My cyber tome

Where I write freely to my intended pace.

And so my friends

This isn’t the end

Of my knowledge or my maturity

My mind is not

Yet going to rot

I’d just want to stick with simplicity.

And one more thing

About my writing

I don’t publicly reveal my alignment

I’m not afraid

Of what they’ve said

Just I don’t like to make out statements.

I’ve cogitated

factors related

Considering all situations

The cons, the pros

With the right dose

I’ve contemplated those conditions.

So I conclude

Of what I should

I need to play safe for the time being

I don’t want my voice

My words of choice

Would one day hurt the others’ feelings.

It is natural

to be neutral

And surely is a hard thing to do

Beyond the region

and religion

I just hope I could keep this through.

Recently, I was asked by an old friend, Sudi, who is now working in an engineering company in JB (Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd) to construct Treasure Hunt question for his company (with some incentive that is). Since the T-Hunt had been done already, I think it is OK for me to share with you the questions (Q), answers (A) and the rationales (R) of the clues.

Be informed that this T-Hunt started from JB and ended in Kuala Rompin. Each team of 4 had to drive all the ways and seek the answers along the way, let it be on billboards, shop signs, road signs, permanent banners, etc. The clues may be common sense, general knowledge, anagrams or translations from English to Bahasa and vice versa. So bear in mind that by only reading the clues here, it won’t be sufficient for you to know the answer. You have to be there and follow the tulip (T-Hunt route guidance). So, here goes nothing…

Q1. Why, you & I
have been replaced with the escape button on the keyboard, starting from tea
until the love stops.

A1. TESCO Seri Alam 

R1. On
the keyboard, we have QWERTYUIOP, in that order. Replace Y-U-I with ESC, you’ll
get TESCO, “starting from tea" = Starts with T, “until the love stops" = ends with O (since ‘love’ is zero in tennis)

Q2.  They even cross the ocean to
sell parts and Djinn earrings, or so
I have heard.

A2. Overseas Engineering Corp. Sdn Bhd. 

R2. “cross
the ocean” = OVERSEAS, “and Djinn earrings” = ENGINEERING, “or so I have heard" = clue indicating that it only sounds like.

Q3. A prestigious place that
never turns off… with an ending

A3. Bandar Dato’ Onn.  

R3. Opposite
of ‘off’ is ‘ON’ + ending with ‘N’ = ‘ONN’

Q4. Teh untuk anak lelaki laut,
yang bunyinya macam geletek.

A4. The Season Tackle Sdn. Bhd. 

R4. “teh”
= THE, “anak lelaki laut” = SEASON, tickle (geletek) bunyi macam TACKLE

Q5. A city I’ve professionally
called home.

A5. Active Pro Communication Technology Sdn. Bhd 

R5. “a CT I’ve" =ACTIVE, “Professionally” = PRO, “called” = clue indicating a picture of a phone on the board

 

Q6. Lelaki tua yang
membawa satu biji cangkir.

A6. Restoran Pakwan 

R6. “lelaki
tua” = PAK, “satu” = one = WAN, “cangkir” = klu menunjukkan ada gambar cawan

Q7. “Berkurun lama, ku
rahsiakan, cintaku padamu, hanya kerana kau ratu sehari…?”

A7. Cemara Bridal & Beauty House 

R7.  "Berkurun lama, ku rahsiakan, cintaku padamu," = Lirik lagu Exist - Pohon CEMARA, "ratu sehari" = pengantin perempuan

Q8. Here, you can have a
rest or an opportunity meeting with a Greek god.

A8. Restoran Apollo

R8. “rest
or an” = RESTORAN, “a Greek god” = APOLLO

Q9. Dia toleh ke sini
selama seabad tetapi tak cukup setahun.

A9. Hotel 99 

R9. “toleh” -> HOTEL, “seabad” = 100 thn, 100 thn – 1 thn = 99 thn

Q10. A park and a hill
without vowels

A10. Tmn. Bkt. Tiram

R10. “park”
= TAMAN , “hill” = BUKIT, "without vowels" = semua tiada huruf vokal

Q11. A polite princess
who has lost her E.T.

A11. Santun Puri Sdn. Bhd.

R11. “polite”=
santun, “princess” = PUTERI. “lost her E.T.” = buang huruf E & T. Jadi,
PURI.

Q12. In English, it’s
‘water’. Dalam Bahasa Melayu, ianya ‘udara’. Apa-apa pun, hidupan ini
memerlukan kedua-duanya.

A12. Air Fish Sdn. Bhd.

R12. “water”
= AIR = “udara”, “hidupan ini” merujuk kepada gambar IKAN.

Q13. The Milky Way is
between your hair and your navel.

A13. Pusat Kerinting Rambut & Persolekan Unisex Galaxy

R13. “Milky
Way” = GALAKSI Bima Sakti, “navel” = PUSAT, “hair” = RAMBUT

Q14. Dalam bayangan gurauan, kuterlihat Boeing 747 disebalik awan yang berselerakan ke Timur Laut.

A14. Kedai Emas Mega Jumbo

R14. “bayangan gurauan” = Lagu kumpulan MEGA, “Boeing 747” = JUMBO Jet, “… berselerakan ke Timur Laut” = tertinggal perkataan ‘MEGA’ seperti dalam lirik lagu Zur Eda - Kelmarin.

Q15. See as the face
jumbled.

A15. CS Cafe & Restaurant

R15. “see
as” = CS, “FACE jumbled” -> CAFE rearranged

Q16. You may find 2000
bugs in the baking!

A16. Y2K Cake House

R16. “2000”
= 2K, Y2K “bug”, “baking” = CAKE

 

Q17. Tempat perbicaraan
untuk gajah berbulu zaman silam.

A17. Courts Mammoth

R17. “tempat
perbicaraan” = COURT, “gajah berbulu zaman silam” = MAMMOTH

Q18. Pengklasifikasian
organisma dalam Biologi antara Order
dangan Genus.

A18. Pasaraya Famili Mart

R18. Alam, Filum, Order, FAMILI, Genus, Species

Q19. Dengan teknologi
terkini, mungkin tiada yang menang, tiada yang kalah.

A19. Sri Nona

R19. "teknologi terkini" = teknologi nano -> NONA, "tiada yang menang, tiada yang kalah" = SeRI

 

Q20. Ketam kasut kuda

A20. Gerai Belangkas Mahkota

R20. “Ketam
kasut kuda” =Horseshoe crab = BELANGKAS

Q21. Bekas penderhaka
Melaka yang telah dimodenkan

A21. Hang Jay Motor

R21. Hang
Jebat dimodenkan jadi HANG JAY

Q22. A tyrant predator
from the pre-historic times

A22. T-Rex Enterprise

R22. T-REX
= Tyrannosaurus Rex

Q23. Produce your
identification card and you will get a medical certificate.

A23. ICMC Healthcare Sdn. Bhd.

R23. "identification card" = IC, "medical certificate" = MC

Q24. Tidak lama lagi,
abang-abang di sini akan merempit.

A24. Soon Brotheres Motor Co. Sdn. Bhd.

R24. “tidak
lama lagi” = SOON, “abang-abang” = BROTHERS, “merempit” = Klu kedai motorsikal

Q25. This bunny has got
rid off the bee at its rear.

A25. Kedai Makan Arna

R25. “bunny” = ARNAB, “get rid off the bee at its
rear” = Buang huruf B di belakangnya.
Jadi, ARNA

Q26. Look like Pak Lah is
the biggest share holder.

A26. PM Hardware & construction

R26. "Pak Lah" = PM.. duh!

Q27. A Javanese
settlement that has turned around from being lazy

A27. Kg. Wak Salam

R27. “Javanese”
= Wak =, “lazy” = MALAS, turn it around, it will be SALAM

Q28. “Naik seram Mek dengar
tentang  cempiang tu.”

A28. Johan Ceramics

R28. “Seram
Mek” = CERAMICS, "dengar" = klu bahawa ia hanya bunyi serperti, “cempiang” = champion = JOHAN

Q29. Having a tap
problem, the Japanese call for Wawa for his services.

A29. Atap Wawasan Restaurant

R29. “a
tap” = ATAP, “Japanese call for a man named Wawa” = WAWA-SAN

Q30. A Hispanic girl found a tin in Lost Angeles.

A30. Latina, Best Fashion for All

R30. “a
Hispanic girl" = LATINA, "a tin in Lost Angeles" = L-A TIN-A

Q31. Selepas makan telur
2/3 masak, dia masuk ke dalam jaring.

A31. EG Net Enterprise

R31. “telur
2/3” = EG, “masuk” = ENTER, “jaring” = NET

Q32. It sounds like her
anatomy was a drama, but actually she was only praying to open her own
practice.

A32. Klinik Grace

R32. “sounds like” = klu bunyi
seperti, “her anatomy was a drama” = cerita Grey’s Anatomy, "praying" = saying GRACE, “practice” = KLINIK

Q33. Kalaulah dia
diterima sebagai majikan kepada Labu dan Labi, tentu bagus.

A33. Haji Mabrur Assyifa’ Enterprise

R33. “diterima” = MABRUR ialah Haji yg diterima, “majikan Labu dan Labi” = HAJI Bakhil

Q34. Mereka mahu menawan
keluarga bahagia dengan cara aman

A34. Singer (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.

R34. "menawan keluarga bahagia" = Lagu tema iklan SINGER

Q35. Tempat persinggahan
perwakilan warga asing

A35. Embassy Hotel

R35. "tempat persinggahan" = HOTEL, "perwakilan warga asing" = EMBASSY

Q36. Kalau nak minum di
sini, terpaksa tunggu giliran atau berkongsi.

A36. Restoran Secawan

R36. Ye
lah, ada sebiji cawan jer dalam restoran tu. Apa taknye

Q37. You have to grow
gills to reside here.

A37. Taman Lautan Biru

R37. "grow gills" = indicating in the sea, "reside" = indicating a residential area

Q38. A haunted cottage

A38. Suara’s Chalet

R38. "haunted" = indicating you can hear voices, "cottage" = CHALET

Q39. The Kyubi is fueled with a fiery flow of chakra.

A39. K.U.B. Gas

R39. “Kyubi”
= K.U.B., “fueled” = GAS, “a fiery” = clue pada tulisan huruf A ada gambar api

Q40. To spell this is to
be you and the alley.

A40. Bundle Triple Chantique

R40. “to spell”
= klu suruh mengeja, “be you and the alley” = B.U.N.D.L.E

Q41. Add L and Y, and these
two will be an oxymoron.

A41. U.G. Beauty House

R41. U.G.
+ LY = UGLY, opposite to BEAUTY, that is ironic, “oxymoron” = Frasa yang
terdiri daripada dua perkataan berlawanan spt ‘random order’, ‘pretty ugly’,
etc.

Q42. Sara tersepit tengah
paya sebelum bertemu dengan pelumba F1 Scuderia Ferrari.

A42. Pasaraya Massa

R42. "Sara tersepit tengah paya" = PA-SARA-YA, "pelumba F1 Schuderia Ferrari" = Felipe MASSA

Q43. Berbulu aku tengok penemuan
Michael Faraday ini.

A43. Hairy Elektrik

R43. (“berbulu”
= HAIRY -> HARIY, “penemuan Michael Faraday” = Elektrik)

Q44. She may be one of
the former students of UM with an extra eye.

A44. Faridah Aluminium  

R44. “she”
= clue perempuan,”former students” = ALUMNI, “UM with
an extra eye” = IUM, ALUMNI+IUM = ALUMINIUM.

Q45. Mmbop!

A45. Hanson 

A45. "Mmbop!" is one of the most popular song sung by Hanson

Q46. The first four is a
pocket, and the last four makes half a tortoise, but together, the whole six is
a flowering tree.

A46. Kedai Pakaian Sakura 

R46. “pocket”
=SAKU, "half a tortoise" = KURA, " flowering tree" = SAKURA

Q47. Turn to this
frequency, and the machine will romp in its company.

A47. Rompinco. 44.65 

R47. Frequency = clue utk 44.6,
“romp in” = ROMPIN, “company” = CO.

Q48. They should run in
shame if they sell her garments here.

A48. Nurin Shop

R48. “run
in” = NURIN, “run in shame” = klu bahawa memalukanlah sebab menjual baju budak
yang dibunuh

Q49. A catfish of a Kelantanese royal blood lost half a tooth when saying the 3rd letter in the Jawi alphabet.

A49. Kelinik Githa

R49. “catfish” = KELI, “Kelantanses royal blood” = NIK, "half a tooth" = GI, "3rd letter in the Jawai alphabet" = THA

Q49. Pengganti diri yang baru

A49. Wakil Insurans New Eng Hong Agency

R49. “pengganti diri” = WAKIL, “baru” = NEW

Okay. That’s all I can share with all of you right now. Sorry for the mixing of languages. This was the note I passed to my friend mentioned above. Not all of the questions here were used in the T-Hunt coz the final say was his, since it is HIS T-Hunt. Heh. I hope I’ll get the chance to be invited to make more T-Hunt questions in the future. I do enjoy doing it, and feel even more excited when knowing people are thrilled and enjoying themselves participating and answering my questions. (^_^)v

This happened two Fridays ago as I was on my way to PPD Sabak Bernam for meet up to plan a programme soon to be held there. With me were two other colleagues, Tajol and Arif, where I was only a passenger in the car. They received a phone call telling us to stop by at Klang for a while as there had been a accident involving a UiTM student. We were told that the boy died. With such little information, so we did as requested.

Arriving at the hospital, we where directed to go straight to the Department of Forensics, a.k.a. the morgue. There, a crowd was already present. No familiar faces appeared to me at the time yet. So, we headed on to look for UiTM staff who might have already arrived there.

There we found En. Amizar and other HEP and CITU staff. According to him, the deceased was on his motorbike when he was hit by a car. His passenger survived with a bruised leg, but he died on the scene. It happened at a junction in Section 7, Shah Alam. It came to me that it is a common situation as for accidents involving motorists are in the top ranking in this country.

He then continued on revealing the whole story. It was a shock to me that the bike was stationary when the accident took place. They were actually at junction waiting for the traffic light to turn green when this car came from nowhere and hit the two. (I will address this car as Car A to tell the story much clearly)

Later it was cleared to us that Car A was actually coming from the bikers’ right side. It was driven so fast to race againtst the changing traffic light. At the time it crossed the white line, the light had already turned red. At the same time on the other side, traffic light had become green. So, another car (Car B) made a right turn as to the driver (gender and race unknown), might have thought that it was safe for him/her to do so. Since Car A was at its top speed and had noticed Car B was about to block its way, wanting to avoid a head-on collision, Car A swerved to its left and to no one expectation, it hit the clueless motorcycle.

Well, initial, to everyone’s mind, Car A is to be blamed for causing the loss of an innocent life. I think everyone would agree to that.

Some also pointed their fingers towards Car B, for everyone who goes to any JPJ (DMV) approved driving school should have learned that even if the traffic light has turn green, the driver should be extra cautious also.

I for once agreed with both accusation. Yes, once. Then I tried to imagine how would the motorist behave at that junction. It is a common practice for Malaysian young riders to stop after the white line, not before it, when stopping at a traffic light. So, the case could most probably be as such.

It truly is a sad thing when someone dies in an accident. It is even sadder if it is not  your own fault. To die in the hands of others without being able to control your own fate is indeed a frustration. Same goes in this case, but the cause is actually preventable. I learned something really important from this incident: Never to cross the white line when stopping at a junction. You may be able to control your action, but you have no control on others’.

Pengorbanan para Anbia jadikan iktibar, Pengorbanan ibubapa dibalas segera, Pengorbanan perajurit jangan dipersia, Pengorbanan guru dikenang selalu, Pengorbanan sendiri semoga diterimaNya =]

A boy once had a dream, 

To experience Down Under, 

As a man now it seems, 

That’s about to be a wonder.

MISS
HOPE AND LADY LUCK

(By: Azuan bin Ahmad)

 

Miss Hope:        Here
now, awaken

O
my beloved children

It is I, Hope,
appear in present

 

Lady Luck:        Be
glad now, as chaos has taken its tide

Far
from thy thoughts and sight

As
I, Luck, is by thy side

 

Miss Hope:        O
my young ones, the offspring of days

Pandora’s
Box is not a child’s play

Hazardous
it is, let’s put it away

Conflicts
and crisis should be set at bay

Common
interests are now the say

 

Lady Luck:        O
my little ones, the successors of nights

Rebuild
thy future, prosper it bright

Full
of visions, guided by light

Thou
won’t be lost if own foresight

Unite
now be, bound and tight

 

Miss Hope:        Have
faith in thy path, to thyself be true

Hereby
I grant thee with all the virtue

Passions…
determinations…

Believe
in thy destiny

Embrace
this opportunity

Laggard
never be

My
prayers be with thee,

Cherished
with avocation

 

Lady Luck:        Redeem
thy fortune, despite be no chance,

Here
now I bless thee with goodness advance

Diligence…
Intelligence…

Fate
isn’t random

Nor
a conundrum

Strive
it and confirm

That
a leap of quantum

Will
subdue the turbulence

 

Miss Hope & Lady Luck:

Behold
our words, now succumb

Emancipate
all from being numb

Take
a walk that is zeal

Speak
a talk that is real

Touch all hearts
and start to feel

                        Our
trust is on thy shoulders

Know
that it is not a burden that will hinder

So,
crawl out from the old cocoons and hear hither

Eventually
thou will bloom like glorious, precious soothers