30. It's something

I attended my interview assessment on Monday this week.
And it's not a good experience. 
I don't want to talk about it.

I consulted my supervisor yesterday afternoon.
He looked at me and I looked at him.
The end.

For the last 17 days, I slept at 1 am. Likeee nowww.
Urghhh, so much for the New Year Resolution.

p/s: I gonna spend my next 2 days to paint the house for CNY. Haihz.

29. Siuyeh attitudes

Today my sister will receive her training for PLKN at Negeri Sembilan. Or maybe tomorrow, coz she just departed this morning. My mom says how lucky my brother and me because none of us went. I still remember why my dad sumbat me inside MRSM coz he wanted to prevent me from being chosen as PLKN trainee. Last time all the people dislikes the idea how gov train their citizens because like a copycat copy Singapore. Now, everyone loves the idea including my dad, he says he is regret not to send me in. =.="

When I went to MRSM, I feel a bit like a siu yeh. I don't like to do three things.

NUMBER ONE: I DON'T LIKE TO SHOWER WITH COLD WATER.
Fckng cold, man. Imagine that you need to shower as early as 6 am in the cold morning.
Every day I need to convince myself using a mantra,"You can do it, you can do it. That stupid cold shower will end after 15 minutes" twice  a day for almost one year and half.
I got no problem in the afternoon because the weather is hot as hell but not morning or at night.

NUMBER TWO: FOOD. THE FOOD SUX. 
When I went there for the first few days, the food is quite ok. Quite edible. After that the food quality started to deteriorate. I langsung tak sentuh those food that I hate (fish) or those food with an ugly presentation. Nampak pun tak berselera, how to eat? We have meals five times a day but usually I only eat for lunch and dinner. One day I tried to eat the roti canai as breakfast, 10 minutes later at class...I went to toilet to puke. Hou choi I ran fast.

NUMBER THREE: I DON'T LIKE TO WASH CLOTHES.
Because I feel it is kinda mafan. The school solve the problem for us by providing us dobi. But you need to pay every month whatever you send you clothes for dobi or not...and your clothes will not be clean. AT ALL. Urgh. Sometimes your baju will hilang and appear at other people baldi. How stupid! They will mix our clothes to wash together and they will forget to put back. I stopped after one month because my clothes constantly went MIA and I started to wash the clothes myself for the next one year and half.

Hope my sister will be doing ok, coz  I think she is just like another siu jeh. Haha.

28. Mathematics and Its Obstacle

I came across these two interesting articles about Mathematics in Science Daily.

No Math Gene: Learning Mathematics Takes Practice

Dec. 16, 2013 — New research from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology shows that if you want to be good at math, you have to practice all different kinds of mathematics.

What makes someone good at math? A love of numbers, perhaps, but a willingness to practice, too. And even if you are good at one specific type of math, you can't trust your innate abilities enough to skip practicing other types if you want to be good....

Role of Literacy Skills in Adolescents' Mathematics Word Problem Performance

Dec. 19, 2013 — Right after the PISA-results were published the whole Finland turned upside down. The performance of Finnish adolescents in mathematics had dropped from the very high end to 12th place. It started a discussion on bringing back the importance of motivation and "fun" in learning mathematics. 

...The main point is that learning mathematics does not have to be "fun." Instead, learning has to be considered as meaningful and purposeful by the learner, so that the need to know more would be accelerated. ...

The first article shows that no matter how good you are with numbers, you still need to practice to understand and by doing more mathematics. I think that what I did during primary school. I still remember how difficult for me to understand the concept of fractions when I was in standard five. I had no other choice but to learn it by practice, practice and practice. At the same time, I also tried my best to relate it to real life objects and applications. Good with numbers or calculations more related to arithmetic skills. For mathematics, there is more than that. Here I wish to quote part of the Wikipedia about what mathematicians think generally about mathematics:

...mathematicians seek out patterns and use them to formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proof. When mathematical structures are good models of real phenomena, then mathematical reasoning can provide insight or predictions about nature. Through the use of abstraction and logic, mathematics developed from counting, calculation, measurement, and the systematic study of the shapes and motions of physical objects...

The second article shows that learning mathematics does not have to be entertaining. I admit that learning mathematics is not easy for me because I couldn't 'see' it except geometry because I can see shapes, angles and lines.Besides, I think geometry is meaningful and useful. Similarly for statistics, I never think learning probability and statistics are enjoyable because certain areas are so difficult, abstract and it is no longer fun even for the experts. You might need to crack your head or bang the wall a little to get the answer but at the end you will feel "everything-is-totally-worth-it".

From the article, we know Finland trying their best to improve their student's performance in learning mathematics for future. For Malaysia...our ranking nowhere to be found. In 2009, we were there in the list but for 2013  I don't even know where are we. What a disappointment. Let's hope the Ministry of Education will do something about it for the sake of the future generations.

References:

1. The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) (2013, December 16). No math gene: Learning mathematics takes practice.ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 1, 2014, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2013/12/131216102844.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fcomputers_math%2Fmathematics+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Computers+%26+Math+News+--+Mathematics%29
2. Suomen Akatemia (Academy of Finland) (2013, December 19). Role of literacy skills in adolescents' mathematics word problem performance. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 1, 2014, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2013/12/131219082752.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fcomputers_math%2Fmathematics+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Computers+%26+Math+News+--+Mathematics%29
3. Mathematics. (2013, December 14). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 05:08, January 1, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mathematics&oldid=585987631
4. Programme for International Student Assessment. (2013, December 20). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 05:40, January 1, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment&oldid=586868971

27. Notebook

My notebooks

I always keep a notebook with me because I'm a forgetful person. A notebook would come into handy when I need to:

• jot down some memorable notes from the book that I read
• write/derive some secret formula to conquer the world 
• use it as my monthly planner, my monthly expenses record and my vocabulary record.
• draw something when I feel bored like...now.

The left one is the one that I used when I was in secondary school, the middle is the one that I used during University Degree and Master. The right one is the one that I will use this year. It fits ngam ngam inside my pencil box and bag. Black and nice. 

26. 2014 Resolution

TO ALL THE BLOGGERS AND READERS OF MY BLOG...

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014!

Today everyone is celebrating Happy New Year  but I think no one will be happy. The main reason is because of the inflation that will be happen in the country soon. Let's forget that. Urgh.

This year my resolution would be:

1. Have a regular exercise and meditation

Taken from previous year resolution. I will choose Wednesday, Friday and Saturday to have a regular jogging routine. Time? From 7.00 to 7.30 am. For meditation, I will choose to have it on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Time? Anytime but the duration needs to be more or less 30 minutes a day. 

2. Eat more fruits and sleep early

Taken from previous year resolution again. I think I need to eat more fruits, especially orange because I think I lack of vitamin C. And for 'sleeping a bit earlier' part, I think it is unavoidable because I need to wake up early to jog in the morning and then go to work. So, 11.30 pm is my limit.

3. Enjoy my life and be more adventurous

Hmm....I think I need to specify a bit clearly this year. Be more adventurous, here I mean travelling. I plan to travel to visit negeri-negeri in Malaysia or go hiking. I think I know who will I drag along this year. Enjoy my life?. I will take a lot of happy photos how I enjoy my life to post it here...lol.

4. To finish my 2014 Reading List 

• The Princeton Companion
• The Numerical Analysis
• Calculus Textbook
• NY Times: Practical Guide
• GOD Created the Integers
• Darwin: The Indelible Stamp
• Encyclopedia of Statistical Science (16 Volumes)
• Encyclopedia of Mathematics
• Lebesgue Measure
• Linear Algebra
• Matrix Algebra

Read, understand, make notes and do practice/exercise. (choose any book and finish it in one or maximum two months)

That's all I can think of. I think I will monitor my progress six months later and will add in some more.

Here the first happy picture of me for 2014 =)