"Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri"

Thursday (09/09/2010)

a) Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
* Tomorrow is a public holiday because it is the Malay New Year.
* I brought in some toy pictures of Malaysia's main 3 races.
* The Muslims wore Baju Melayu, Kurung and also Baju kebaya. The Chinese wore Samfu and Cheongsam while The Hindus wore Sarees and the Indian male clothes.
* Chinese celebrates "Gong Xi Fa Chai" while the Hindus celebrate Deepavali.
* A few kids kept saying "Am pu ne neh" when we talked about the Indians. I shared with them that the phrase is very unpleasant and is usually said to scare naughty children. I told them to tell their parents or anyone who said that phrase that it should be Indians and they are as beautiful as everyone. All humans have got red blood, don't they?

b) Video Clip.
* So, how do the Muslims' celebration look like? Do they sing songs like Gong Xi Fa Chai?
* The video clip played the Hari raya song. It was very nice and the kids were attentive looking at their celebration.
* Their delicacies include "ketupat with chicken rendang and also kuihs". They play fireworks like the other races. They receive "Green packets" instead of "Ang Pows". They wear new and beautiful clothes. They go visiting and pay respects to the elderlies, family members and also friends of all races.
* Understanding will enable kids to respect the different races even more. It's not only about holidays.....

c) Memory.
* As yesterday was Wushu day, we didn't get the chance to watch any video clip about Mother Theresa. So, we did that today. Before watching, I got the kids to explain about Mother Theresa to Zheng Yuan who just got back from holidays.
* We saw black and white documentary about the late Mother Theresa. She was rather old but was still working diligently to help around. She had negotiation with leaders of the world to stop war. She had trainings with her nuns. She was very humble. She inspired many people including the late Princess Diana and the Pope. She was awarded the Noble Prize and she reminded that love is very important. She said, "To improve the world, go home and take good care of your family". She was indeed a great Heroin.

d) TV Craft Continuation.
* The kids were excited when they saw my TV with Mother Theresa's short movie.
* Yesterday they drew 5 mini pictures. Today, Devin assisted me to give each kid a TV frame. They inserted their mini picture film through the TV frame. Next, they queued up to take some cellophanetape from me to paste and join the films together.
* we shall continue decorating the TV frame next Monday as we didn't have enough time.