By Bakri Baharom @ Koboi Tunjang

Enter the Arabic Proverb.
 Many people like to attend symposiums and seminars. Some quote Quranic verses or the prophet’s sayings (hadith). Some may talk about the wisdom of philosophers and proverbs from yesteryears. In Malay society, we have a lot but two deserve special mention.

“Sehari selembar benang, lama-lama menjadi kain” and “Sekilas ikan di air, sudah tahu jantan betinanya”.

Both illustrate Patient / Tenacity and Observant / Expertise respectively. Surely, it must have come from a very learned society. No doubt about it.

In 1989, Koboi Tunjang was privileged to attend a course in Toronto, Canada. In one place, an Arabic Proverb was prominently displayed on the wall:

1: Great People Talk About Ideas

2: Average People Talk About Things

3: Small People Talk About Other People

How true. Some examples:

1: What are the steps necessary to avoid loss?

1: How do we improve our productivity further?

1: Why do we need to build flood mitigation immediately?

2: Mount Kinabalu is at 4,095 m above sea level.

2: To date, we already have 10 PMs.

2: A 3-bedroom house could cost up to RM500,00 today.

3: The husband and wife artists have divorced.

3: He must have used dirty money to buy such a big and nice car.

3: She is such an ugly woman.

Nur Syuhada Ishak (DPR) and Ku Muhammad Aiman Zafri (DJL) posed with Steven Covey, 7-Habit book and Steve Jobs bibliography respectively.

Well, in life we cannot live up to 100% Great and 0% for Average and Small categories. Initially, we must strive to be, say 70% Great, 20% Average and 10% Small. Over time, we must further reduce the 10% to 5%. The ratio is now to be 73%: 22%: 5%. Keep on reducing the third factor to hit 0%. Be determined to belong to the #1 category.

Enter the Birds and Planes.
 
Quiz: Why do birds fly in V-formation?

Not all but some like geese, swans, cranes and pelicans. Based on studies, as birds flap their wings, the air immediately behind it is pushed downward and the air to the sides is pushed up. As a result, the trailing bird needs less energy to keep pace with the leader. After a while, other birds will change positions at the front, thus everyone works equally hard to get to any destination. Similarly with a group of planes in V-formation. The air upwash from the leading aircraft will lift the following airline, thus saving fuel.

Every early morning and late evening cranes fly in a V-shape over Koboi Tunjang’s house.

The point is nature provides us lessons to improve our living. So, make nature our teachers too.

Quiz:
Name two other instances whereby the idea of birds and planes flying in V-formation is applied? (Answer: bike and car races).

Enter the Book and Bibliography.
 
Another source of idea, motivation and inspiration comes from reading books and Bibliographies such as Nelson Mandela, Jack Ma or Rod Stewart to name a few.

Take Jack Ma. From an ordinary unknown English Language teacher, he challenged himself, made some right moves and decisions, overcome all his shortcomings, to raise again and again every time he stumbled. The end result could not be any other way but the most successful entrepreneur and richest individual in China, if not in the world.
 
In his book, Alibaba, The House That Jack Built, 2016, by Duncan Clark, it was revealed that he had only enough (borrowed) money for a one-way trip to the United States to learn internet applications in business. Finally, he returned to Shanghai, again using (borrowed) money from an Hangzhou student in the States. He brought home a computer running on Intel 80486, the most advanced in China at the time. Sure, he must have re-paid them generously later. The rest is now history.

Enter the Taxonomy Bloom.

A comprehensive formal education consists of 3 elements; Knowledge, Skill and Attitude. Take knowledge which refers to the Cognitive aspect. Generally, there are 6 levels known as Taxonomy Bloom, as the following:

1. Remember
2. Understand
3. Apply
4. Analyse
5. Evaluate
6. Create

The lowest level, called C1, involves knowing, recognising and recalling facts. C2, Understanding means understanding what facts mean. To apply, C3 is to apply facts, concepts, rules and ideas to solve problems. C4, Analyze is to break information into its parts. C5, Evaluate is to judge the idea or information value while C6, to combine parts into a new whole, Creating.

For Diploma level students, the most significant level is C3. However, it still consists of the lower levels C1 and C2 and the higher levels C4 – C6, known as High Order Thinking (HOT) skills. Another way to look at it is the level of study; from Certificate, Diploma, Degree, Master and PhD.

In designing the curriculum and subsequent exam questions, different words are used to indicate the varied thinking skills required. For example:

C1 – Define, Identify, Describe, Explain, Quote…
C2 – Interpret, Classify, Compare, Summarize…
C3 – Calculate, Solve, Use, Complete…
C4 – Contrast, Relate, Correlate, Conclude….
C5 – Criticise, Judge, Appraise, Reframe…
C6 – Design, Modify, Develop, Modify, Write…
 
To be successful students, you must be motivated and inspired enough to improve your thinking skills levels. Look at the following sample question, Programming Fundamentals, Question 1:

a) List TWO (2) elements in the C++ program structure. [CLO1, C1, 2 marks]
 
b) Explain the definition of local variables. [CLO1, C2, 2 marks]
 
c) Write a program using an array to display as shown below:
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 [CLO1, C3, 5 marks]
 
Notice, the question builds up from the lowest cognitive skill to higher ones; C1, C2, and C3…. with correspondingly bigger marks.

Who says your study is like walking in the park? But, so many had passed by the park.

Question:
What do you want to be after graduation?
What will be your choice? Discuss.

You may like to join Government service, the private sector or be self-employed. Each one has its merit and demerit. But, all need proper qualifications; knowledge and skill sets. With about 1.5 million government servants now, the opportunity is somewhat limited. We have read how even doctors are only offered on a contractual basis. But, do not lose hope. Keep on knocking on the doors of opportunity.

The private sectors are much bigger; ranging from industries, factories, health care, hotels, banking, tourism…. and agriculture. Within industries, there are so many to choose from; manufacturing, assembly, construction, transport…. and mining. You will be spoilt for choice. There must be one that suits you.

However, Koboi Tunjang always fancies those graduates who strike on their own. They could become entrepreneurs; not simply any kind but in their own specialised field. The idea of following in the footsteps of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs should be seriously considered. If you can be a fraction of the two, it is more than enough to celebrate. It was the reason why Koboi Tunjang set up BB Electronics upon retirement. His son with Diploma and Degree in Electrical and Electronics could run and take over it when the time comes. He is now pursuing a Master’s program part-time in the same field.

Be whatever you want to be. But, keep on learning through reading. There are simply too many treasures hidden in the fine print. In fact, the first verse that descended on the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was Iqra, meaning “read”. Opening the door to reading will lead to thinking, reflecting and acquiring knowledge.

Lets start writing as well. Share your knowledge. Share your experiences. How? Simply start. Improve later.

Write from your heart (feeling)
Write from your head (thinking)
Write from your eyes (observation)
Write from your ears (listening)
Write from your soul (intuition)
Write from your sleep (dreams)
 
Enter ApaKhabarTV.com.
 
Type: http://www.apakhabartv.com to read online. It offers Malaysian Diaspora, learned individuals in both our Ivory Towers, industries and country sides, famed, retired and brand new writers alike. They have one thing in common – to share with fellow readers about history, technology, Orang Asli, sports, recreation, survival, lifestyles, hobby, community services…. AI, IOT and D.I.Y. Happy reading!

Should you like to zoom in directly to any writer’s offering; type his / her name in the search box. Example: For Koboi Tunjang, just type Koboi.