Lobo's Lessons

Yasmin Ahmad dies at age 51. A spark of light, extinguished in the blink of an eye. As famous as she was for her films, there is not one of them that I have fully seen from beginning until the end. I do not know her for her films. Instead, I knew her more for her opinions and how she stood by her convictions, no matter how heavy the opposition may be. Like and indomitable island against on onslaught of tidal waves she stood, firm and unwavering. And yet, she too was human, and as such vulnerable to all human weaknesses. A testament, and a reminder to all, that no matter how bright a candle may burn to illuminate the darkness, when it reaches the end, it fades out and dies. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow - William Shakespeare Rest in Peace Yasmin.

Image credit here It's a Saturday.. And I have only just finished invigilating the Special Examinations for the First Year students.. Funny thing is, the exam season is over... And they had already taken this exam before... So why am I here invigilating an exam, when exam season is over, and the students had already taken this paper before, when it is a Saturday where I should be resting at home? Ladies & gentlemen, welcome to the record-setting blunder of the century (as far as my department goes). I am not a liberty to divulge any details, but suffice to say something happened that made the validity of the exams questionable. And so it goes, the students had to resit the paper again...all 2000-odd students from the entire First Year cohort of the entire University... Setting a record indeed. What I had seen these past 2 months has indeed been a test of courage against adversity against many malignant forces, with true integrity shown by the few chosen people... The implicatio...

Picture credit here A lot of my readers may be wondering why the past two months have been extremely quiet here in Lobo's Lessons. Well folks, truth is so much has gone down the past two months I can barely recall anything. It's all one big blur. Next thing I know, the semester has just started again, and I'm left with the question: ..."Where'd my holidays go?"... Let me fill you in on some of what I can remember from these past two months: 1) End of term - marking frenzy to submit marks on time. 2) Once marking was done, got 2 SPACE UTM classes for part-time students - 1 in Kuching and 1 in JB (thank God...last year it was Kuching and KL). 3) Fly off to Kuching every other weekend, and go straight back to work the following Monday. 4) Teach weekend classes in JB every other weekend, and go straight to work on Monday. 5) Attend MELTA conference while still actively doing what needs to be done back at the faculty. 6) Was awarded post of Head of Committee for le...

Hello everyone, My name is Biscuit. I'm a Persian kitten, but my daddy says I have some local blood in me because of my stripes. I like my stripes. It makes me look like those tigers I see on TV whenever Daddy turns on Animal Planet. I like Animal Planet. I love Mummy and Daddy, and abang Adel (he's my big human brother). I like to bite them whenever I can. Sometimes I can hear them screaming when I bite them. This means that they love me. Abang Adel most probably wants to be a wrestler when he grows up. He likes to practice his moves on me. I don't mind. I just show him that I love him and bite him. I am very happy in my house. But there is one thing I am confused about. Whenever I go to the toilet in the small blue box with that strange sand, Mummy and Daddy smile. I don't know what the fuss is. I mean, it's sand right? But when I go to the toilet in the big toilet that has all those beautiful plants, they get angry and lock me up for the night. Look at this pictu...

Picture credit here After a group of friends haven't seen each other in a long time, when they meet up in cyberspace someone is bound to have a brainwave and suggest everyone to get together... A reunion. So what goes into conceiving and planning a reunion? First, the idea surfaces somewhere pleasantly, and everyone says 'what a great idea!'... 'it's been so long'... 'Splendid!'... and so on and so forth. Next, someone asks the brilliant question - 'Who's going to plan it?' Silence... And then someone suggests a name... and that person suggests another name... and so the buck gets passed, round and round until someone says 'Hey, let's do it in KL... That's a central location... So and so is there, so let's get him to do it!' And so the hapless guy takes up the challenge, becomes the leader, and starts delegating tasks... and surprise surprise... the ones who were making the most noise are the ones who are least inept and r...