Shaayla's Bedtime Reading

Here's Shaayla 'reading' her bedtime story. Well, not exactly reading...she actually remembers the words after we read it to her once or twice. But she does recognize a few words like 'a', 'the', 'I', 'is', 'up'.

Shaayla's School Crafts

In the blink of an eye, Shaayla has attended almost a month of preschool. She's really enjoying herself now. She has made many new friends and is quite a darling with the teachers. They've done quite a number of crafts in school and these are just some of them.

The school had a 'Grad for a Day' session yesterday where they were brought to the class of their next grade. So, Shaayla's class was brought to a Pre-K class where they did that messy chocolate biscuit that you see. It was part of math learning as they learned to count the M&Ms.

We've got to register her for the new school year starting in June. But we haven't quite decided if we want to continue with Merryhill or register her at Challenger School. Challenger is known (good or bad) for its emphasis on academics, and is therefore hugely popular among the Asians. But we've read a few comments on greatschools.net about its lack of a holistic education and over-stressed teachers, so we're still in two minds about it. We'll probably be able to decide better after the Challenger open house on Feb 2.

It's Raining Hail

The past few days of wintry cold weather brought a pleasant surprise early this afternoon. We were planning to go out when the heavens suddenly opened and torrential rain fell. But it was tiny hail stones that pelted down! They were more like little chipped ice, but it was great fun for Shaayla who ran out to the patio trying to catch the 'stones'.

Looks like the winter storm watch isn't over yet. The weather forecast is for more rain over the next week with temperatures hovering around 5C.

Brave Little Shaayla

It's been a week since Shaayla started preschool at Merryhill Preschool, and she's doing great. I'm actually pleasantly surprised at how fast she adapted. She cried on the first 2 days, standing forlornly at the fence staring at the carpark and crying 'I want my mummy!' But, by the third day, she only cried when I left her and then she was distracted by her new friend, Julia, at the playground.

On Monday this week, when we dropped her off, she had a slight look of hesitation, but it quickly faded and she smiled and waved goodbye. The rest of this week has been really great. Today, being Friday, is sharing day and she brought a storybook "Max & Mo Went Applepicking" to share with her class.

I had a surprise myself when I picked Shaayla up after school today. A boy, Justin, was wailing his lungs out and covering his ears. Guess the teacher, Ms Pretti, must have thought I looked worried, so she explained that they had a fire drill this morning! She quickly reassured me that Shaayla took it very well and didn't cry at all. When the alarm first sounded, she did ask for Mummy, but she soon calmed down and even comforted her friend, Julia, telling her there was nothing to be afraid of.

Our little girl is getting to be brave and sensible.

How can good religion make people want to do bad things!

This has been bugging me for a long time and I did not know how to express this view of mine without sounding like an atheist. Don't get me wrong, I am a God-fearing man and I used to pray regularly asking God only to bless all my loved ones and thanking Him for all that he has given me (and the occasional "help me pass the exam" prayer).

One fine day while reading my usual "Malaysia Today" blog. I came across an article by one of my most respected Malaysians, Raja Petra Kamarudin or RPK, which made me believe that my views are not insane when it comes to this particular question on religion. "WHY DO GOOD RELIGION WANT TO MAKE PEOPLE DO BAD THINGS." Without getting too much into the details of what I am trying to say, I urge you, to read this article by RPK which echoes my thoughts 110% http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/106/38/.

As a parent and a human being who believes in the "All Mighty One", you do not only have the responsibility to educate your children on the aspect of God but also live your daily life in the manner suitable of a person who fears, speaks, prays and believes in the "All Mighty One". But time and time again, it is becoming ever difficult to educate your child when all around you, there are news of humans killing one another in the name of religion (Christians on Muslims, Hindus on Muslims, Hindus on Hindus, Christians on Christians, Muslims on Muslims). It's easy for any parent to educate his/her child on religion when they are young (young minds are easy to mold) or you can always force them to pray or strike fear in their hearts about the after life. But what disturbs me is what did the parents of these people, who kill other human beings in the name of religion, taught them about religion. On the other hand I have come across many people who are atheist who have the greatest, biggest hearts that you can imagine and mind you they have no religious education. I was always been told that religion is suppose to bring the goodness out of people and not the opposite. But year on year, this has become something that is harder and harder to believe in. My mum always says that things happen because God intended it to be that way. If that is the case, then God must be a real cruel god for making humans kill other humans, especially if they are believers in the same religion .

So the question I have for a lot of parents out there is - is a person any worse if he does not embrace any particular religion? For that matter, does a religious devout make a person superior?

Just some food for thought......