SPP Appointment Letter

   Alhamdulillah! Yes, how could I forget? I finally got my appointment letter from SPP! The PT handed it over to me on Sunday. Some  of my friends had already received it last week, but whatever the case, I'm happy I got mine.

   Included in the packet are the following items (sorry I'm typing some items in BM- too lazy to translate):

   1. Appointment letter from SPP or in BM Surat Tawaran Pelantikan Tetap Jawatan Pegawai Perkhidmatan Pendidikan

   2. Surat Setuju Terima Tawaran Pelantikan

   3. Surat Akuan Sumpah

   4. Surat Aku-Janji

   5. Borang Pemeriksaan Perubatan untuk Pelantikan Ke Dalam Perkhidmatan Awam

   I'd like to share the contents of the letter with you, as I'm sue you'd  be interested in knowing about the amount of gaji etc., hehe, but I'm not sure if it's supposed to be confidential. Anyway, I've to complete the medical check-up and all a.s.a.p. I'll keep you updated.

   And I promise this is the last post for tonight!!!

   Take care everybody! Two days to go before the school hols... I'm already in holiday mood!!!

Posting: More on JPN Briefing

   After spending 3 days at school, I am back. At home. Yes. Yes!

   Anyway, to continue the news on posting, I thought I'd write with more details on the JPN briefin. you people who hope to be posted to Kelantan may want to take note since the procedure and all might just be the same.

   The briefing was held at Dewan Bestari. Pink building. Next to an orange building. Ground floor. We signed our names before going into the hall. They did not ask for any documents. My friends Shima, Ipah and I wore blazers, just in case, but it wasn't really necessary. Parents were allowed to go into the hall, so my Mum sat with other parents at the back of the hall.

   The briefing started off with a long introductory speech from some important person. He spoke of thigs like how important our job was, how lucky we were to be placed in Kelantan since it's  so hard to get in, you get the idea. He also put a lot of emphasis on how ENGLISH teachers were placed in ONLY RURAL AREAS since we were needed there. He mentioned it a few times. In fact, pretty much everybody who spoke in front mentioned this little interesting fact. The first place they filled up with new teachers was the 'jajahan' (district) I was sent to. GUA MUSANG. Yeahhhhhh. Yay for me (coughs).

   The second speaker also spoke about similar things, after which he officiated  the ceremony. We were like, what??? Baru nak rasmi? Bila nak bagitau dapat sekolah mana ni? The secondary school people already knew where they were posted to, since the name of the school was listed beside their name when they registered. W primary school people fidgeted an sat on the edge of our seats, giggling nervously.  Thank goodness nobody went hysterical.

   Finally, they started calling our names. We went to the front, received our placement letters and our fates were sealed. From the 9 TESL girls from my training institute, 2 were placed in Gua Musang (guess who one of them was. I'll give you some sweeties if you get it right), 1 in Jeli and the other 6 in Kuala  Krai.

   After that, they called out the names of the schools and the Heads of each school came out to meet their new family member(s). Two of my friends were posted to the same school! Lucky them. My Head didn't come (okay that sentence makes me wanna crack up), but the PK HEM (Senior Assistant Teacher for Student Affairs) did, and he was (and is) a very, very nice man. He's in his fifties, and is going to  retire in about 3 years, I think. Mr L. Mum came and sat with us, and he kept telling her not to worry, that SKST (my school) was the safest, most comfortable school there is. He said, "Oghe2 situ jughus2 blako." (The people there are nice people). Did I mention that Mr. L is Chinese? And that he speaks using the Kelantanese accent when he speaks in Malay? Yeah.

   There was also a short briefing on Badan Ehsan or Ihsan, but I couldn't hear much because the hall was so noisy, with everybody being excited on getting their new schools. What I did hear was that new teachers should register, because they have some sort of donation(?) for new teachers who are posted to places like Gua Musang and need money and stuff. I'm not sure if I heard  about this correctly. I will try  to find out more and share with  you.

   One more briefing was on the Plan Pembangunan Guru Baru. This was some new programme they came up with in order to get new teachers oriented to their school, as well as to monitor them to make sure we're doing our job. I still don't know much about it, but when I do, I will tell you more about it.

   That's it for now. TTFN!

Posting: JPN Briefing

   I'm tired, so I'll only write a bit. In short:

   -Kelantan received 74 new teachers today

   -the Heads or their representatives were there to welcome the new member(s) of each school

   - the new English teachers were all posted to either one of these 3 districts: Kuala Krai, Gua Musang or Jeli

   - we received our memo/placement letter (surat penempatan). The offer letter (surat tawaran kerja) will only be ready after 2 weeks

   What? You want know where I've been sent to?

   Gua Musang. Hehe.

POSTING RESULTS

They said:

So I typed in my ID:

And here it is: 

[click on the images for a bigger view]

So where'd you get? Do share!

News on Posting: Let's hope it's true!

   Some of you may not have Twitter, but if you do, you may want to follow Dato' Wee Ka Siong's account, he tweets a lot about posting these days. Here's the link:

Dato' WKS's Twitter Account

   According to WKS, the first batch to be posted this year will be able to check  their placements this coming Monday evening. We all can't wait! Hopefully the news will be worth the long wait, Insya-Allah. 

   Since I'm a TESL graduate, I mostly only check out the tweets regarding the TESL grads. If you have questions regarding your programme, you can check out his tweets, of better still, shoot him a question. From what I've seen, he's mostly ready to answer queries made to him. 

   According to WKS, 199 out of 201 TESL (primary school) graduates cleared the interview. They're still waiting for SPP to confirm the list for TESL (secondary school). I'm not sure about the DPLIs, KPLIs who missed out on last year's posting and the PISMP programmes, but I hope things turn out well for all  of us.

   Hopefully Monday will bring good news for us all!

   UPDATE: It's Monday! Insya-Allah all primary school option teachers will be able to check by 8.00 PM tonight. Those from the secondary school option will be able to check their status in 2-3 days. All the very BEST!

Ohhohoho...

   Let's face it. I'm bad at keeping my word. Well, at least when it comes to talks about posting. Lalala. I've yet to write about the promised 'Part 2' to this entry, hopefully I'll come around to that some day. Many of my friends have asked me to share what I've read, but really, they should ask for what should be read, since I didn't really read all that much.

   Anyhow, I'd like to share a few things.

   Number 1: I passed KISSM. Alhamdulillah. Yehhu! If you've gone for KISSM and haven't checked, this is where you check the results:

RESULTS FOR KISSM

   Number 2: Dato' Wee Ka Siong tweeted some interesting stuff yesterday:

Tweet 1

Tweet 2

   And I have heard quite a lot of talk that there will be postings in January. I'm not sure how true it is, but let's have faith. 

   And I hope all goes well for all IPTA edu grads who are waiting to be called for their SPP interviews, I haven't heard much about it, but apparently there will be interviews in January. Pray that it'll happen, people! Feel free to share if you get a call for the interview :)

   And yes, I WILL Insya-Allah post about where I'm posted to. So many people have asked me to tell them when it happens, that I've forgotten who they are! Insya-Allah. 

Is it time to think of other options?

   Last night this got us hopeful.

   Then came this about half an hour ago:

 

   And this:

   One thing about WKS is he takes the effort of answering questions. Oh well. What can I say? Millions ( or 1 million?) of undergrads under the KPM scholarship are waiting for placement. Some have families to feed, some have themselves to feed... then I came across this:

   However little money you have, there's always some other person who has even less. Or worse, none. Instead of thinking of what you don't have, think of what you do have.

   If you really need to work, it's time to look at other options. Just write that resume, send them somewhere,go for interviews and whatnot. Do something. Don't just complain. 

   Do you hear this guy complaining?

I must say I'm impressed with how he managed to arrange the bricks so that hey don't fall down.
Thumbs up to him! What little money he earns, he truly deserves.
Can we say that much about ourselves?

   For my fellow friends who are patiently waiting to be placed in schools, keep that patience alive inside of you. We are going to be teachers. We're going to be role models for children. What are the chances that our complaints will be echoed by the children we teach when we give them homework in the future? They say history repeats itself. I say, be the sort of person you want your children and students/pupils to be. 

Some news on posting from Dato' Wee Ka Siong

   Okay I did say that I'd stop posting about posting until I've been posted... wait, I never said that. Okay, so here we go.

   Tadaa!!!

   Good news, huh? Apparently somebody said that TESL there meant KDC (Kursus Dalam Cuti) teachers, so somebody tweeted Dato WKS and got a reply:

   This is probably the first real confirmation that something might happen, but then again nothing is certain. Let's just pray and hope for the best ;)

*Credits to the people who tweeted and posted the print-screen version of the tweets. Tq!

Posting, posting, posting... hehe

   I'm afraid I'm going to bore you with more news on posting.

   Of course, if you're an IPGM-TESL graduate, you might be glad of some news, huh?

   These are pieces of information I collected from my TESL friends, through our FB group. These people have 'connections' with 'insiders', hehe, so hopefully the news will turn out true. I just hope I have time to complete my driving lessons and take the JPJ test before being posted!

   1. My friend Bet said that her father's friend, who's an important personage at the Bahagian Pertukaran Guru, said posting results will be announced on 26th September 2011. Less than four weeks from now.

   2. A TESL boy announced that he got information from JPN Kedah that a meeting at Putrajaya will be held on September 8th 2011. This is when representatives from all the JPNs will gather to collect names for their respective states.
      * It seems that Selangor & Johor need over 1000 teachers. (I think I'd prefer Selangor over Johor. At least I have some family there.)
      * It seems that there's an overload of teachers in Kelantan and Kedah... so doooshhh all hopes of going there are lost. But of course Allah knows best and you never know what can happen, huh?

   3. Another TESL boy said he had the chance to talk to the Head of JPN Sarawak, who said that posting for TESL grads (not sure if he just means IPGM TESL grads, or all, but I suppose just the former since the others haven't filled their forms,  or so I've heard) will be announced sometime in September. So.

   Well, I hope the news will turn out to be true. Let's hope for the best. If you're reading this, please pray that I'll be placed somewhere I'm needed. Insya-Allah.

Posting lagi...

   Kawan saya Ika cakap dia dapat berita dari JPN Johor mengkhabarkan bahawa perlantikan baru untuk bulan 8 dibekukan sebab kerajaan tiada duit untuk bayar gaji. Dengar cerita bukan sahaja perlantikan untuk guru-guru, tetapi juga untuk semua bahagian lain. Bak kata Wani, lepas raya, paling lambat bulan 10.

   Lagi2 tak ada duit. Itu saja komen saya tentang ini. Ataupun mungkin itu saja komen yang saya dapat tulis di sini. Yang lain? Simpan dalam hati saja...

Some news on posting

   Rasa nak tulis in BM.

   Dan rasa nak guna bahasa rojak.

   Dan rasa nak guna BM yg tak betul sangat.

   Sebab saya pun rasa tak betul.

   Kawan2 saya juga ramai yang tengah 'tak betul'.

   Sebab kami semua sedang menunggu keputusan 'posting' yang tak keluar2 lagi.

   "Bila posting ni?"

   "Posting lambat pun takpe... boleh rehat and enjoy lama2 kat rumah... tapi bila tau result eh?"

   "Nak cari kerja lain takut tiba2 kena panggil..."

   "Takut la kena hantar Sabah Sarawak."

   "Lambat posting, lambat la dapat gaji wei..."

   Dan macam2 lagi. Itulah yang menjadi isi perbincangan kami di FB saban hari. Kalau tukar topik pun, akan berbalik semula ke isu posting.

   Semalam kawan saya memberi sedikit informasi dari kawan ayahnya yang merupakan ketua sektor sekolah rendah di salah sebuah negeri di Malaysia (discreet habis... but you know who you are, Wani, hehe. Femes jap u kat sini). Kata kawan ayahnya ini, beliau dipanggil untuk bermesyuarat tentang posting, sepatutnya pada minggu ini tetapi mesyuarat tersebut dibatalkan pada saat akhir. Bak kata kawan saya, kalau macam ni, gamaknya selepas raya lah baru ada berita tentang posting.

   Ada pula yang mengkhabarkan bahawa JPN Sabah & Sarawak serta JPN negeri2 Pantai Timur (semua negeri atau salah satu, saya tak pasti) telah menghantar surat gesaan kepada Bahagian Penempatan supaya mempercepatkan posting kerana mereke memerlukan guru Bahasa Inggeris.

   Ada yang tertanya-tanya jika kami akan di'posting'kan selepas Raya ATAU selepas pilhanraya, hehe.

   Begitulah kisahnya.

   Itulah sebabnya saya malas untuk meng'update' blog.

   Ini sahaja berita yang saya dapat sampaikan buat kali ini.

   Sekian.

   p.s.: Apapun, saya pasti Allah lebih mengetahui BILA dan DI MANA kami akan ditempatkan. BILA dan KE MANA kami dihantar adalah yang terbaik buat kami. Time will tell. And Allah knows BEST :)

   p.s.2: To those who do not understand BM, this is just a random post about posting. No big deal and nothing very useful, so you didn't miss out on much.

   p.s.3:  I wonder... kepada yang mengambil kursus pendidikan di universiti seperti IIUM, UM, UPSI dll, sudahkah anda mengisi borang posting secara atas talian (online)? Dengar kata bulan 8 atau 9?

Posting Results: Waiting 'til We're Nuts!

   I haven't posted anything new because doing it reminds me that I'm still waiting for the posting results.

   And also because I left my practicum files and record books with my lecturer. I was planning to make some good entries out of them, but there you are.

   Over a week ago, the posting results for one of the KPLI programmes (pre-school or pendidikan khas, I don't remember) were announced on the Ministry's website. Duh.

   It's not like I am SUPER excited to start working. Yes, it's true that it'll be nice to start earning money and help my parents out (and get some things for myself!) but since I just got home for about two weeks, I'm still in the mood for relaxing and feeling useless (at times) and baking edible (yes edible, since I'm still pretty much a novice at it) things to eat.

   However, it is annoying to have this nagging feeling whenever the words 'posting results' pop into my head. Ugh. I WANT to know where I'll be sent. I WANT TO KNOW! It's not easy to be patient, huh? Life is all about waiting, I guess.

   Where will I be sent? Will I get a school so near to my house that I can't stay here and save on rent and a lot of other things besides? Will I get a school in some part of Peninsular Malaysia that's umfamiliar to me, like Pahang or Negeri Sembilan? Will I get sent back to the northern parts- maybe Kedah? Or Penang? Will I get sent back to Melaka? (No! No! No!!!!!!) Will I be sent of to the dreaded states: Sabah or Sarawak?

   Arrgghhh!!!! But I suppose this is what most, if not all, teacher trainees go through. I do know that we are a little bit luckier compared to our university friends, who have yet to complete their forms. They have to wait until the end of this year for their results. At least they'll get to stay at home, I guess. We should be grateful. Sigh.

   For lack of nothing to do (yeah, right) and in order to help my jumbled-up thoughts about posting, I've made a list of the possible places that I COULD be sent to and the pros and cons. 

[I should go to sleep, it's 1.37 a.m. and I've to get up early for sahur- it's Nisfu Syaaban! But oh well.]

   1. Kelantan: somewhere so near to my house that I can bike to school

       Bike? Well maybe not, but maybe Abuya could send me or I could drive there when I get my licence.

       Pros 

       No need for rent fees! Yippee!!!

       Save a lot of money! This means that I can give more (insya-Allah) to Ummi and Abuya, as well as save up to do thing that I want to do (like going for umrah and travelling!!!)

       A chance to polish on my meagre Kelantanese speaking skills.

       Get to complete my driving lessons easily!

       Be close to home, all the time!

       

       Cons:

       I might meet someone (a guy) who's a pure-bred Kelantanese. Oh no. (I'm not biased. Honest. I just don't fancy them)

       I'll have to really learn to speak Kelantanese! Yikes!

       I might end up being here forever. I'd like to have the chance to explore other places too.

       Conclusion:

       I still have mixed feelings about this. Though I really want to stay close to where my parents and family are, a part of me says that I want to explore. I dunno. I feel guilty. I haven't said anything to Ummi or Abuya about what I feel. :(

   2. Kelantan: somewhere not-so-near so that I'd have to stay away

       Examples? Gua Musang (I hope not!) Machang? Tanah Merah? Jeli?

Thanks for the welcoming words.
But I dunno.
credits

       Pros 

       I'd get to experience a new place (but still in Kelantan, duh)

       I can come back every weekend or every other weekend- as often as I can!

       Save on travelling fees when I do come home (?)

       Get to complete my driving lessons easily enough if I can come home more often.

       Cons:

       New place? Really?

       If I am posted to someplace in Kelantan, they might as well post me somewhere near so that I'll be able to stay at home!

       Same other cons for being posted near home

       Conclusion:

       I dunno. Kelantan? Only if I get to stay somewhere near home. If I can't, then just put me somewhere else.

   3. Back to good-old Kedah or Penang

       Not such a bad idea. I'd be able to teach in a place where I grew up or went to school. I kind of like this. In fact, 8 out of 10.

       Pros: 

       Familiar surroundings... familiar places
       MakNgah's family and Tok & Wan are there
       I spent all my life except for the last four years in both states- it's kinda close to the heart
       I like Kedah & Penang!!!

       

       Cons:

       Far away from home (Kelantan)

       Conclusion:

       I like the idea- but am not sure Mum and Dad do! (Well they want me to be in Kelantan, which explains everything, hehe)       

   4. Other parts of Peninsular Malaysia

       This won second place on my list of 'nerve-wrecking when I think that I'll be posted here'. And yet it sounds like fun if I could do a bit of exploring.

       Pros: 

       New places! New sights! New surroundings! New people!

       

       Cons:

       Well, it depends on which state it is. I don't really have a thing for Negeri Sembilan (makanan pedas oi!), Johor sounds like an expensive place to live in, Perak and Perlis sounds okay, Terengganu would be good... Pahang is a bit risky because it's so big.

       Conclusion:

       It'll pretty much depend on the state they send me to. 

   5. Back to Melaka where it all began

       The truth is, Melaka isn't such a bad place. In fact, it's quite an awesome state for its small size and I've grown to understand its people from my four years there. For some reason though... I dread being posted there. Too many people who know me...? 

       Pros: 

       Jusco! I love Jusco. And they have so many shopping complexes. 

       I've yet to explore some of the attractions like Zoo Melaka (yeah, duh), the Night Cruise, Duck Tours etc. A bit dumb, really since I had lots of time to go but didn't.

       The people are really nice... in their own way :)

       I've built some good relationships with some people there, which is good, I guess?

       

       Cons:

       It's such a long way from home by bus... 9 hours of travelling back and forth by bus for four years is enough. Quite enough.

       Like I say, I have this uncomfortable feeling of being sent there. Like a premonition. Which I don't understand and therefore do not like

       Conclusion:

       Hmmm.... if I do get sent to Melaka, I'm going to smile bravely and say to myself, "at least you're still in good old Peninsular Malaysia..."

   6. Sabah! Or Sarawak!!!!!!! Aggghhhh!!!!

       Pros: 

       New place. Could be exciting.
       More money! (I hope I don't sound too happy about that)

       I'll get to travel by airplane! Haven't done that for a while.

       Cons:

       Such a long way from home...
       I might get sent so deep into the wilderness that I won't have access to the internet!

       Conclusion:

       While I hope not to be sent here, I feel quite optimistic (for now) about being sent there. 

 7. Overseas?

       Okay that was random. What a silly, silly idea. As if! But it's fun to think that there might be a possibility of it happening. Okay, maybe not. Let's pretend there is, anyway.

       Pros: 

       Scotland would be really cool.... haha. Or they could send me to New Zealand. Or anyplace cool. Yeah.

       Hey, what's not fun about travelling? (Probably lots of things but I won't think of them now)
       I'll be a foreigner! Cool!

       Cons:

       Urm... I don't think I'd afford it, haha

       Conclusion:
       I'm being silly. It'll NEVER happen. Period.


   This is what happens when you think TOO much about where you'll be posted to. This is just me. My friends are cooking up even weirder and funnier things to do!

   Anyway, I put my complete trust in Allah. he knows best. Like Ustaz Kabuye said once, the place we are sent to will be where we are needed most. I hope to be a good teacher. Where? Allah knows best! :)

The long wait before being posted to who-knows-where

   And so the waiting starts.

It's time to start tearing off the pages off... one by one, day by day
source

   The strangest thing about this blog is that even though my last post was nearly a month ago, the page views keep increasing. I wonder who comes here... and what those who do read. . It makes me feel rather mean because I have not written anything much since teaching practice ended. It's not that I don't want to write or that I don't have anything to write about. It's just that writing takes some work and effort, and once you stop doing it, it's not exactly easy to get back on track.

   Well, teaching practice is over- it ended over a week ago on April 14th 2011. It was a sad, but all good things (as well as bad things) come to an end eventually as long as we are on this world, and one must not sigh or lament over this little fact. What I do know is that SKP will always remain in my heart as the place where I learnt so much and got to know so many good people. I shall always treasure the memories I collected there- they're all carefully kept away in a special drawer in my treasure chest.

   So what happens now that teaching practice is over? The long, long wait for posting results. Well, perhaps that does not come to mind first. For me, particularly, the first thing that I am currently anxiously waiting for is the results for teaching practice. With that will come the results for my overall achievement for my degree. If I get a cgpa of 3.6 and above, insya-Allah I'll obtain First Class Honours. Do I think I will get it? I do not know. Time will tell. I hope I will. It would not only mean a lot to me but also to everyone who has contributed so much in my making (was that sentence correct? Oh well).

   Then, there will be the long, long LONG, LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG wait for posting results. This is something that every teacher trainee goes through (I guess, as far as I know that is). Naturally, I put Kelantan as my desired location, but they say it's not easy to get in. No, no. There are thousands of old and experienced teachers on the waiting list, hoping to be sent back to their beloved state, so what chance do new teachers have? What chance do I have?

   What do I think? I do hope and pray that Allah will place me somewhere near to my home sweet home- but at the same time I know that Allah's will is great. Whatever place He send me to will be the place that I am meant to be in. I hope and pray that He will send me to a place where I am needed. That's what Ustaz said (long story).

   So when will we know the results? B.Ed TESL students, or at least the ones under the twinning programmes between IPGs and local universities are usually posted to their respective places sometime in August. It is now April. Well, it's nearly May, anyhow. So there's a long 3 month wait, I guess. It doesn't sound so bad considering teh fact that our semester breaks are usually also 3 months long. I just hope there aren't any delays, like what happened to our seniors. They had to wait until October last year to be posted, poor things. Just imagine waiting for half a year.

   Well, let's hope and pray that all will go well. I put my complete trust in Allah. He knows best, so I trust Him with all my heart. I just hope that wherever they put me, it's a place where I can get access to the internet. Please oh please! :P