Exam week

It’s exam week in a pandemic. Thankfully, the exam format is MCQ. I could just eeny-meeny-minie-mo if I don’t know the answers. I am also thankful that I am not on weekend duty at the Covid Assessment Centre (CAC). I could do some revisions, sample questions and tips from the forum. I tried to read my modules in the car in between my patients as I go on my mobile vaccine outreach activity. However it is quite difficult to focus.

Thus, I am relying heavily on my assignment scores. For HUbungan Etnik it amounts up to 70% of the total marks. MCQ makes up for the rest of the 30%. Is it wishful thinking to hope for an A (moon) and if I don’t, I land in the stars (B)?

14.08.2021 – Hubungan etnik

15.08.2021 – Health and Wellness

18.08.2021 – Statistics for Psychology

Uncle Muthu – the subject for my assignment

For Hubungan Etnik, we need to submit an assignment written in Bahasa Melayu. The task evolved around the Upin Ipin animation and how it can play a role in achieving unity. We need to provide examples of how these characters made it possible and the one thing that crossed my mind was, “Do I need to watch all the episodes?”

Judging from the conversation in forums, it seems like we could write a fairly good essay based on the superficial knowledge we have about the animation. Surely, the cliches of ‘amalan-amalan murni’ like helping the elderly, teamwork etc would be what the characters will be doing. However, to produce an outstanding essay, I think it would take an extra mile to show the examiners that we know what we are talking about. I decided to go an extra mile.

I chose Uncle Muthu as my ikon of unity for my essay. I felt that Jarjit would be a very popular choice. Who could not resist mentioning him and his pantun, right? Uncle Muthu seemed like a favourable character and worth exploring more as I started the draft of my essay. I knew him as an Indian man who sells local delicacies at his stall in the village but surely there is more to him than that.

His biodata on the web did not elaborate much except for the fact that he has a son called Raju. I asked my son if he knew anything extra about Uncle Muthu but he only knows that he sells ABC. And so began my marathon of Upin Ipin on Youtube. It was an incredible research portal as there were tonnes of side information about Muthu. His most prominent episode was Cahaya Deepavali.

THE ASSIGNMENT

The question asked about the impact of Uncle Muthu towards kesepaduan sosial. I outlined my answers as below;

• menyediakan ruang sosial untuk penduduk setempat berintegrasi
• berasimilasi dengan budaya dan masyarakat setempat
• berbudi bahasa dan prihatin dalam komunikasi harian
• mendidik ahli komuniti secara tak langsung mengenai keunikan kebudayaan etnik beliau

Of course, each point was elaborated by extracting examples from relevant episodes. I am so grateful for Youtube. It was easier to watch it there than having to go on Netflix.

Current Study Update

At first everything seemed manageable despite the increasing workload. Things took a different turn once Covid19 started affecting my family members in Selangor. In short, my mother got worse. She didn’t make it. I wrote about the experience in my other blog. Al-fatihah to my mom.

I have been missing my live e -tutorial sessions but am catching up via the recorded ones. The forum have been very useful.
Previously, I have been aiming for a CGPA of 3.5 and above. However, with everything that is going on at the moment, I have to say that it will be enough if I pass.

Soon, one of our primary care clinics (KK) will be open for 24 hours and converted into a green zone area for emergency cases. The nearby hospital is no longer accepting them and will only manage the yellow and red tag cases only. Other KKs will also be affected as we expand our services at the expense of managing chronic illnesses. CAC kita. vaksin kita. sekolah kita. banjir kita. apa lagi.. tapi what to do.. berkhidmat untuk negara kan..

As of now, I have managed to complete my statistics assignment. I need to touch up on my Hubungan Etnik course work and then later, concentrate on the Health and Wellness module. Exams are in August. Thankfully MCQ. Bolehlah tembak.

Ethnic studies

Malaysia is a Nation Without State. Negara Tanpa Bangsa. We are not like Indonesia yet where its citizens are identified as bangsa Indonesia. A person may be from a Chinese ethnicity but his name is probably Ari Wastroyo something. She may be a non muslim by the name of Siti Murni. In Malaysia, we are still identified by our race and religion. It’s not really a bad thing to be honest, in fact, multiculturalism is worth celebrating.

In this semester, ethnic studies or Hubungan Etnik is a mandatory subject. Browsing the topics, it looks a bit like history class. I am intrigued to see how the tutor is going to bring forth this subject in a neutral manner. This is because the last thing I want is for us learners to feel like we are being brainwashed in a camp. We’ve only had 2 classes so far and it seems OK. Of course, the topic will get more difficult and challenging as time goes by as we navigate around the sensitive issues of social contracts and such.

The Assignment

The question is about kesepaduan sosial dalam mewujudkan kestabilan dalam konteks Malaysia where we base our essay on the local animation, Upin Ipin. The essay is to be written in Bahasa Melayu. The assignment itself carries 70% of the total marks. That is a lot of weightage. Screw this up, it brings down the whole grade.

That was what happened with my Cognitive Psychology subject last semester. (sob)

The deadline for this assignment is next month. Time is running out. I need to start soon.

Semester 5 subjects

I am glad that in one year, we have 3 semesters. It helps to keep me in focus. For Semester 5, I am taking on 3 subjects since I feel that I have a lot of things going on in the upcoming months. My subjects for this semester include;

a) Statistics for psychology – I have printed out my notes. The module has 10 topics and looking at the assignment question, I have to say that I am very clueless on how to answer it. It is a very odd situation as usually I am always able to have an idea on how to go about the topic, but this subject is just very alien to me right now. Thankfully, the e tutorial classes are scheduled on a Saturday morning. At least, I don’t have to stay up on a weekday night.

b) Hubungan Etnik – I feel this is an interesting subject to sit through. It is intriguing to see how we navigate around this subject in a non-judgemental manner as learners. I suppose this is like studying history and how it’ll fit the current culture of our society. It seems that the subject will be using Bahasa Melayu.

c) Health and Wellness – Skimming through the topics, it looks like something that is applicable in my evergreen journey of losing weight! Maybe I could learn a thing or two from it.

So far, all of the assignments pertaining to these subjects does not involve any video making. I kind of missed that! Hahaha.. but I suppose it is a safe, traditional approach to completing an assignment and scoring relevant points. I have just visited the forum a few days ago and noticed a few familiar names as learners introduce themselves in the forum. Looking forward to a new adventure in learning!