I got this photo from the school's blog. This is my daughter's class of 35 after they'd won the 'cleanest classroom' award - that's what the red flag is for. The largish boy on the right is her cousin. My daughter is in the last row, second from the right. The teacher (aka, the bitch that beats) is at the top, extreme left. It looks nice here in the garden, which is centred between two double-storey buildings. It's the nicest part of the school. My daughter is on the second storey and each day must haul a backpack and full trolley bag up to her classroom. So do all the other kids of course. It's really horrific seeing how all these little kids have to carry these big heavy packs. The Malaysian Education Department trialled a locker system some time ago and it didn't work (they didn't say why) so that's that idea out the window. I can't see why they don't just keep a class set of text books in the rooms and the kids just carry the activity books.
Anyway, it seems I was photographed while having my parent teacher interview (I didn't know) with my girl's teacher. Here's that photo, also taken from the kid's school blog. It looks like I'm having a good time. I'm not. I'm sitting there being polite and wanting to grab that woman and scream at her for beating the kids because they get low exam results - like they are the problem and not her. The guy in the white shirt and tie is Mr Lee and he's translating for me. He's a genuinely nice teacher who does not beat the kids and can actually speak pretty good English - which is a good thing, seeing as he's the English teacher. He's nice to the kids and has offered to be the 'go-to' person, should we have any concerns about what's happening in the classroom.
This photo (not taken from the school's blog) shows the park where I go for a walk three times a week with my Australian friend. It looks nice doesn't it? It is, in parts, but the water is actually an iridescent green and the bridge you can see in the distance is off limits because the wood is rotting and it's broken in quite a few places. Sometimes when we walk my friend's dog tags along and the Muslims have to run a wide circle around us. Muslims aren't allowed to touch dogs and the men will openly voice their disgust as they pass us by.
Another photo from my collection. October is coming up and it will be the anniversary of my father-in-laws death. My mother-in-law will call us to pray in front of the altar at my brother-in-law's house and then we will have lunch together. This photo shows my son and daughter praying with their cousin who has now grown up to be a big bully. Nice!
You know how I'm always bitching about the drivers here. Well, here they are, parking in front of the school. That small blue hatch is parked in front of the actual parking lot. If he wasn't there, 3 more cars could fit in. Piss me off why don't you! Shame, Malaysia, shame!
That is one teeny-tiny police car. I can't imagine it chasing any criminals down, can you? The writing under the number plate says "Batu Anam". Batu Anam is a tiny town a little way out from where we live and when I took this (I was stuck in traffic) I was wondering if the size of the police cars match the significance of the town!
Well, that's it for now. I'll take some more soon and try and give you more of what life is like here.
Cheers
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