General Knowledge

On this page, I will explain what some of the key words that you may not be familiar with as well as some of the things that I have been introduced to in the time I have been here in Malaysia. There will be some information on this page won’t be on the monthly updates as it may either be too much information or not about what I’m doing but more rather just something interesting.

Malaysia

Borneo – This is the third largest island in the world, after Greenland and New Guinea. Three countries share the island: the Independent Sultanate of Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

Flag – Jalur Gemilang, ‘Stripes of Glory’ is composed of a field of 14 alternating red and white stripes along the fly and a blue canton bearing a crescent and a 14-point star known as the Bintang Persekutuan (Federal Star). 13 of the 14 stripes are for the states (not including the federal territories) and one to show the unity between the states.

Geography – There are 13 states across Malaysia’s peninsula and Borneo: Selangor, Penang, Johor, Sabah, Sarawak, Perak, Kedah, Malacca, Pahang, Kelantan, Terengganu, Negeri Sembilan, Perlis. Malaysia’s the only country that includes territory both on the mainland of Southeast Asia and in the islands that stretch between the Asian continental mass and Oceania.

Halal – This word isn’t just simply for food as its direct translation is ‘acceptable’; this word can be used for food as well as cultural practices in Islam.

Haram – This is the Arabic word which means ‘forbidden’; Haram is the things which are prohibited in the Quran and the Sunnah. For example this could be drinking alcohol or to physically touch the other gender if you are not married as then you’d become a sinner.

MARA – The Majlis Amanah Rakyat, is a Malaysian government agency. It was formed to aid, train, and guide Bumiputra in the areas of business and industry. MARA was formed on 1 March 1966 under the Rural and National Development Ministry.

MRSM – Maktab Rendah Sains MARA, The MARA Junior Science College is a group of boarding schools created by Majlis Amanah Rakyat, a Malaysian government agency. The institution provides learning facilities for bright students in local schools throughout Malaysia.

National drink – Malaysia’s national drink is teh tarik (“pulled tea”), which is tea that is thrown across a distance of about 1 metre by Mamak men, from one cup to another, with no spillages. The idea is to let it cool down for customers, but it has become a Malaysian art form.

People – There is a diversity of Malays, Indians, and Chinese with a mix of languages, food, and culture.

Public Holidays – Overall across Malaysia there are 62 separate Public Holidays, but in the state I live in, Pahang, there are 16 public holidays.

Religion – If someone is Malay living in Malaysia, they are most likely Muslims.

School Life

Class Culture – At the beginning of a class, all of the students will rise, and simultaneously greet the teacher, “Good morning/afternoon Mr Sebastian” for example. After that the students will all pray for successful learning. At the end of the class, the students will rise, thank the teacher for teaching their lesson and give another pray entitled ‘The Prayer of Forgiveness’ where they will be asking for forgiveness from the teacher and God. As a male teacher, after the final prayer, only the male students come forward, give a handshake, bow and kiss my hand as a sign of respect. Although for female teachers, only the female students would do the same.

Relationships – The school forbids any of the students to be in a romantic relationsip, they have the risk of being transferred out of MRSM and to a public school or lower ranked MRSM resulting in a worse education.

Teachers – All teachers are known as Cikgu [chay-go], but unlike the UK, they call the teachers by their first name; for me the students call me Mr or Cikgu Sebastian instead of Mr Kitcat.

Timetable – My workday can start as early as 7 am and can end as late as 4:30 pm. My lessons range from being 1 hour long to 2 hours but can be longer on certain conditions. There is also Preparation time where the students can do their homework, classwork and study as they can be given work to do to be completed for the next day; Prep time used to be from 9 pm-11 pm but is now 8 pm-10 pm so that the students are more focused and will have more opportunity to sleep; so I will be in the office during Prep time in case a students needs any help.