A Few Things I Like About My House

I have no great love for the house that I lived in for six years in Cheras. It is too big (3 floors), too colourful (shades of rainbow) and come with silly-looking cone-shaped roofs (just like fake castles). Many have dubbed the houses in that area "Disney Houses". It didn't help that my room was on the top floor.

In contrast, the house that I'm living in right now in Doncaster is just perfect. It's kind of old and it's not even our own (we're renting) but it's haven to me. Here's why:

1. It's a single story bungalow. No more running up and down the stairs. You can reach any part of the house within 20 seconds!

2. It's easy to clean. All done in less than half an hour.

3. It's in a quiet neighbourhood. No aweful karaoke singing, no squabbling neighbours, no barking dogs, etc.

4. It's a 1-minute walk to the bus-stop (You never know when you need to take the bus).

4. It's 3 minutes away from the Eastern Freeway, which takes you straight to the city.

5. It's a 10-minute walk to the Westfield Shoppingtown (too bad under heavy renovation now, so a bit messy).

6. It's 8 minutes away from Box Hill - where you can find all sorts of Asian groceries, libraries and hospitals.

7. It's 10 minutes away from my cousin, Pin's house.

And best of all, it's just Alex, Joshua, Joanne and me. Just the way a little family should be. Well, not for long, though. We'll have to make room for some long-time visitors soon ...

Homework Should Be Banned?

Okay, this is going to make Malaysian parents cringe. The Tasmanian Parents And Friends Association says that homework should be banned altogether! And apparently a lot of parents share the sentiment.

Gosh! That's about the most absurd thing I've ever heard. I got this information from an article that appeared sometime back in The Herald Sun newspaper. At first I thought I misread the sentence with that statement. I had to read it a few times to make sure I got it right. It seems that homework is "an excuse for poor teaching in the classroom and merely adds to the stress of students".

Goodness, as it is, the kids here don't have much homework to do. From Prep to Year 3, there is no homework at all. The kids just get supervised tuition in school - meaning they finish whatever they need to do in the classroom. They have daily readings at home but the teachers stress these are not homework, just something to practise on. And even some exercises that the kids bring home are optional. And no, they stress that's NOT homework. Hmm, "homework" must be a very bad word indeed.

The kids already have things too easy here. I say some homework is definitely a must. Otherwise, they are sure to get lazy and find it hard to cope when they go to secondary school. This is already happening, especially among Australian born kids. But the parents don't seem too overly concerned about the lack of enthusiasm in homework.

I still don't get it. Homework should be banned? That's just too ridiculous.