Why very young children learn fast.

Have you ever observed how children learn? I have and One of the things I noticed is their lack of self-consciousness that helps them to learn things so very fast.

Children are good are imitation; imitating the actions and sounds made by almost anything in their environment. And they are never afraid of who is watching and what others might think of them and their actions. Of course, this changes if adults were to spoil it for them by telling them, indirectly teaching them to be conscious of what others might think of them. Once that is drilled into them, they understand that others observe them and so they start observing the adults and find that that is true. Then adults would put the thought in their little minds that adults might laugh at them and their behaviours, might think them mad or .... and laugh at them. That puts them on guard and they stop learning in that spontaneous playful way.

Knowing that, adults ought to be careful with their comments and not put useless adult thinking into their innocent little minds. Then the adults can notice that that little mind can absorb a lot through repetitions of words, phrases, clauses and sentences without the consciousness that they could be making pronunciation and grammar mistakes. Through such repetitions and frequent listening to good speech, language is learned. Then, through the provision of good language on radio, television or conversation among people, the child will eventually correct his/her mistakes automatically. Of course, good language must be available much more often than poor language in order for the child to get his language right.

A child who is encouraged to sing and talk about things with words that had seeped into the brain gradually will learn faster than the child who is not given the opportunity listen to language and make use of whatever he could have acquired.

Thus, the opportunity to learn which must be made available by the parents and the chance to practice uttering the words to himself/herself and to others without being self conscious of whatever mistakes that are bound to be made in the process of learning are certainly necessary for learning.

This learning is also possible if adults can overcome their self-consciousness, something which is more difficult as there is always the fear of being laughed at for the mistakes made.

One of the ways adult can counter that fear is to talk to oneself in the privacy of the room. I learned my Bahasa Malaysia, Malaysia's National Language by starting with books from primary one. I would write down sentences with words I do not understand, find the meaning, repeat the words and sentences often in my room, even the bathroom, and talk to friends in the language using whatever I had learned. Initially there was a lot of laughter at my pronunciation but eventually the Language Institute people helped me be a winner by changing the way some words are pronounce with the 'Bakul' method; a method in which words are pronounced according to its spelling. Besides that I improved fast as I listened and use the language everyday. So opportunity to listen and practice is of utmost importance. And if self-consciousness is no impediment to practice, progress will be fast.

Is this the beginning of extremism?

Today, I am copying an article from the Malaysian Insider to show that politics is leading the country towards extremism. Political leaders have been encouraging and instigating Muslim leaders to think of non-Muslims as aliens rather than as citizens who ought to have equal rights with Muslim citizens. What several Muslim leaders say in the following article shows how these leaders have twisted facts to support their extremist views.

Regarding the civil rights of non-Muslim Malaysians I have lifted the comments of a British Muslim, a Jennifer Abdullah, from the comments column in the Malaysian Insider. Her enlightening comment is pasted below the article.

I have copied this article together with a comment by this British Muslim from Hong Kong to show that that what we think is read throughout the world and how well our country and people are judged depends on what we say or do as all would reach the minds of people internationally.

Islamic leaders question non-Muslim rights
UPDATED @ 09:05:18 AM 23-05-2011
By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani
May 22, 2011


KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 – Several Islamic leaders have questioned the loyalty of non-Muslims in the country, declaring today the community’s rights must be re-evaluated if Malaysia is to call itself an Islamic state.
Former president of Islamic Da’wah Foundation Malaysia (Yadim), Datuk Nakhaie Ahmad, said treatment of non-Muslims must be based on the social contract agreed and pointed out that the government has been too gracious to the community.
“In attempts to get vote and support of non-Muslims, we have been very gracious in giving them their civil rights. Civil rights given to them includes the rights to vote, participation in politics, hold office, involvement in the military and so forth but we cannot just willingly give them everything.
“Our offer must be based on religious practices. If we look at the prophet’s agreement in the Madinah constitution, civil rights were given to the Jews but the rights must be paid back with responsibility. They must have the responsibility and agree to defend our country and not insult the agreement,” he said during a forum on "Membina Negara Sejahtera" organised by the Persatuan Ulama Malaysia here.
Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad declared Malaysia an Islamic state a decade ago in a move to counter PAS’ growing influence among the country’s key Malay Muslim population.
The issue cropped up this month when several groups asked for amendments to the Federal Constitution to stipulate only Muslims can be the prime minister after Utusan Malaysia carried an unsubstantiated report of a Christian plot to usurp Islam’s position as religion of the federation.
Nakhaie stressed that non-Muslims that have broken the social contract must be expelled from the country and asked the government to adopt a tough approach in safeguarding Muslim interest.
“If the agreement is broken then actions must be taken against them. If they break our agreement then they are our enemy and must be expelled from the country. We must not compromise with them. We must be stern with them when it comes to the social contract agreed,” he said.
Nakhaie added it is important that high level government positions not be awarded to non-Muslims for national security.
“We cannot give them important government position as it is not allowed for non-Muslims to become ministers in an Islamic state. Head of military must also not be given to non-Muslims.
“Without thinking about the future of our country, we are so willing to give them everything. Granting them their civil rights must be balanced with Islamic preaching so they will understand justice in Islam and the Islamic system,” said the former PAS member who defected to Umno years ago.
He also warned Muslims to unite as non-Muslims will become stronger if the community continues to quarrel among themselves.
“They are brave now and are willing to say anything because they are becoming dominant. They (non-muslim political parties) are only working with us to only achieve their goals. It is a marriage of convenience. We know what is their programme. We are already losing economically and now we want to give political rights?” he asked.
Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia’s (ISMA) deputy president Zamri Hashim added that Muslims must look beyond political affiliation for a common greater cause.
“We must think outside of politics. The Malay agenda is too important to ignore and a majority of Malays are Muslims. This is no longer about PAS and Umno,” said the Perak deputy Mufti.
Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (Abim) deputy president, Dr Mohd Rumaizuddin Ghazali, also stressed that Malaysia must never become a secular state.
“This is why many non-Muslim politicians want to declare the country as a secular state because then the government will not have fund religious programmes.
“They are scared that if we accept Malaysia as an Islamic state then there are many implications which means that only Muslims have the right to lead the country,” he said.
Mohd Rumaizuddin added that the Malays are beginning to be trampled on and non-Muslims are starting to take advantage of the community.
“Because of politics, we are still not free after more than 50 years of independence,” he said.
Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia president Abdul Hakim Othman added the country’s constitution must be replaced as it has been stained by the colonial British.
“A Caliphate state is based on divine revelation. It is not a democratic or a theocratic state. It is only an Islamic state when the constitution is based on the Quran and prophetic traditions,” he said.

Below is the comment by a Miss Jennifer Abdullah who is a British Muslim. The following is a quote taken from the article and her comment.

"In attempts to get vote and support of non-Muslims, we have been very gracious in giving them their civil rights."

I'm not Malaysian but I am a British Muslim and I'm reading this from Hong Kong. I find it offensive that Malaysian Muslims could even threaten to retract civil rights from non-muslims arbitrarily when the civil rights of every individual in the Commonwealth has been protected since the days of the Magna Carta

I'm sorry but a Malaysian friend of mine pass this to me and I cannot help but comment after reading this. I'm very disappointed, as a Muslim myself, to see the Muslims in your country going the way of extremism. I hope the Malaysian ppl understand that true Islam does not condone intolerance and are fully compatible with democracy and human rights.

After the heat came the rain.

A few days ago, friends were complaining about the heat that caused their clothes to be drenched with sweat. My reply to them was how detoxifying that was for them. (Please read the previous posting about the skin as the largest detoxification organ of our body.)

And as though in answer to our prayers, the rain came, heavy and sufficient to drench our clothes once again. Perhaps God has this message that some people do not bath enough. Well, I must admit it is sometimes true of me. Hiking up the hill the whole day cleansed only by the water at the waterfall or fast flowing river. Well, that's a free refreshing bath which is any time better than our home shower and not need to worry about soap getting into my eyes. So natural, so refreshing, so cooling and calming; it lifts my soul.

Yes, it did rain the next few days but then there seems to be no end to complains. Now, some of them are complaining about the wetness and the mud as we move along those virgin paths. Never mind! Let them be for no matter how they complain they would go on enjoying nature's thrills.

Of course, it would rain after the heat. For with great heat, more water is evaporated. The vapour rises and soon form clouds. The clouds become too thick and dark and heavy, soon clash with another cloud, or something else and is cooled up there; just as the air around your glass of cold iced drink turns to liquid and flows down the outer sides of your glass. Then, it comes down as rain.

Once upon a time I played in the rain, running out of the house even before the first drop fell. Then, during the time of my kids, I allowed my kids to play in the only after ten or fifteen minutes of downpour to make sure they are not getting acid rain. Even then I was not sure. My intention of getting my children to play in the rain was to get them immune to rain and the cold. It worked as they hardly catch cold, not even when they are caught in the rain. Sometimes my elder kid even go around in the rain if it is not too heavy.

So, I have enjoyed both the heat and the rain. Both are good and essential to our lives. So, let's enjoy them!

Appreciation of the heat.

"For God's sake, please bring back the rain," appealed this friend who was unable to endure the oven hot air in his house any longer.

Yes, these days in Malaysia, without the delightful air-conditioner, the afternoons are simply intolerable. And all those who suffered this heat complained and voiced their exasperation at the unrelenting heat from the strong sun.

Yet, they do have reasons to voice their discomfort. They sweat and sweat continuously, wiping away the liquid that oozes out from their pores every second of the day. It wets their handkerchiefs and shirts, even their trousers. Fortunately, we wear thick synthetic cloth through which the wetness could not be observed that clearly around the buttocks and their front part. Otherwise, how embarrassing that would be.

Then, again, it is good that it is this unbearably hot as it becomes conversation pieces that we can use to have better and closer relationship with fellow earthlings. Have you noticed that when problems strike everyone around, it is easier to reach out to share the misfortune and comfort each other?

Other than that, do you realise there is less need for a sauna bath, the price of which could make a hole in your pocket? Yes, we have a natural sauna bath in this kind of extremely hot weather every day.

Besides the savings we drink more water, sufficient to keep our body hydrated and healthy. Our body usually gets less than sufficient with us fearing the need to rush to a bathroom to relinquish excess liquid expelled from our kidneys. But then, without that essential water, our kidney finds the job of flushing toxic waste out of the body so much more difficult. So, how nice to be able to take in more. Of course, taking more than is necessary is not good either. (Why? I have written about that much earlier.)

Another benefit we derive from this heat is the sweating. The skin is the largest organ of detoxification. The pores allow sweat to take out the toxins together with the sweat. Now, you know why you smell after some time of sweating. So, with such efficiency of detox achieved through the help of the heat, there would be less free radicals and so need not depend so much upon antioxidants such as Vit. A, C and E as well as numerous others.

So let us look at the happier aspect of the heat. God in His wisdom created the heat for the above benefits besides giving us the opportunity to appreciate the cool breeze and the lovely night.