MELTA Conference 2010 - Kuala Lumpur
Greetings one and all!
I was privileged to be invited to speak at the MELTA ( Malaysian English Language Teaching Association ) Conference, which was held in Kuala Lumpur today at the Royale Chulan. The topic I was asked to present was "Entrepreneurship and Social Contribution in Language Education", something that as you can imagine is quite close to my heart. While I might share some of the contents of my reading at some point in the near future, today I’d rather discuss some of the other presentations that impressed me during these last two days.
To start the conference off, the Royal Patron of MELTA, HRH Raja Zarith Sofiah binti Almarhum Sultan Idris Shah gave us all a good sound royal lecture. Her Royal Highness spoke candidly about her concerns over the decline of English standards within Malaysia. HRH's speech was most enlightening and it gave this great event an intellectually stimulating kick off. Just think - if the voices from the top are even calling for ‘improvements’, how can anyone pretend not to hear the call for change?
The other interesting speech I heard came from Dato' ( Dr. ) Asuriah Mior Shararuddin, the Deputy Director General of Education (Teacher Education & Professional Development), who gave the keynote address for this conference. I think what got me the most was when she spoke about how and why teachers in the public system must think outside of the box and do 'something' special for their students. I applaud her for these thoughts - this is something that I myself am constantly trying to get across. A wise person once said, "A person's boundaries are limited only by their own perceptions!" If all teachers can grasp this concept and learn to teach in newer and more creative ways, then our future generations cannot help but be enriched by the new styles of learning.
After all that I have seen and heard over the last two days, I feel the biggest round of applause should go to Dr Ganakumaran, MELTA president, as well as his entire committee, for doing a fabulous job in organising this event. Certainly, there is nothing that cannot be accomplished when like-minded individuals put their heads together in one concentrated and focused effort to improve the world around them.
Perhaps this one thought is the one thing I'd like you to take away from today's post. Whatever it is out there you are doing, no matter how big or small you may feel that to be, share your mind and hearts with those around you - a greater reward will be had by all if we work together for a common goal.
Malaysia boleh!
"Life is about constantly going beyond limits!"
- Erican Chong
I was privileged to be invited to speak at the MELTA ( Malaysian English Language Teaching Association ) Conference, which was held in Kuala Lumpur today at the Royale Chulan. The topic I was asked to present was "Entrepreneurship and Social Contribution in Language Education", something that as you can imagine is quite close to my heart. While I might share some of the contents of my reading at some point in the near future, today I’d rather discuss some of the other presentations that impressed me during these last two days.
To start the conference off, the Royal Patron of MELTA, HRH Raja Zarith Sofiah binti Almarhum Sultan Idris Shah gave us all a good sound royal lecture. Her Royal Highness spoke candidly about her concerns over the decline of English standards within Malaysia. HRH's speech was most enlightening and it gave this great event an intellectually stimulating kick off. Just think - if the voices from the top are even calling for ‘improvements’, how can anyone pretend not to hear the call for change?
The other interesting speech I heard came from Dato' ( Dr. ) Asuriah Mior Shararuddin, the Deputy Director General of Education (Teacher Education & Professional Development), who gave the keynote address for this conference. I think what got me the most was when she spoke about how and why teachers in the public system must think outside of the box and do 'something' special for their students. I applaud her for these thoughts - this is something that I myself am constantly trying to get across. A wise person once said, "A person's boundaries are limited only by their own perceptions!" If all teachers can grasp this concept and learn to teach in newer and more creative ways, then our future generations cannot help but be enriched by the new styles of learning.
After all that I have seen and heard over the last two days, I feel the biggest round of applause should go to Dr Ganakumaran, MELTA president, as well as his entire committee, for doing a fabulous job in organising this event. Certainly, there is nothing that cannot be accomplished when like-minded individuals put their heads together in one concentrated and focused effort to improve the world around them.
Perhaps this one thought is the one thing I'd like you to take away from today's post. Whatever it is out there you are doing, no matter how big or small you may feel that to be, share your mind and hearts with those around you - a greater reward will be had by all if we work together for a common goal.
Malaysia boleh!
"Life is about constantly going beyond limits!"
- Erican Chong
well done! i was there and it was good.
ReplyDeleteWell done!
ReplyDeletehello!
ReplyDeletei'm from erican JJ....
i had learned for 2 yrs....
Thx for de update Mr Eric-I'll join MELTA this year ...promise.
ReplyDeleteKaruna ELC Tpg