Full Of Surprises

My hectic week is drawing to an end. Unfortunately, tomorrow is a school day. We are replacing for the coming Hari Raya holidays, in which we are taking the whole week off.

Today I was surprised to receive a package all the way from a school in Leicestershire, UK.

Excited, I opened it and it contained a few posters that UK students have done. It also contained some pens, pencils and rulers from that particular school. The gifts will also be given to students. I plan to display the posters at my school. I will also get my students to work on something, to be sent back to the UK.

I was also surprised when told that I had received my appointment letter to undertake the duties of a senior position at school, effective 01 April 2009. Many thanks to my Senior Assistant for helping to push through the appointment.

Why was I surprised? Well, I did not think that it would happen. I was appointed by my former principal internally in 2005, and have been doing the job for 4 years without any official recognition.

Last year, the status of the school changed, and there were vacancies for senior positions at my school. My colleagues and I applied, but there seemed to be a hold-up. We had long forgotten that we ever applied for such positions, and then today the letter arrived.

Well, there is no salary increment for me. But in the letter, it says that I will be paid an allowance of RM120.00 a month. It is what is referred to as Elaun Tanggungjawab.

There is an average of 20 working days a month, so I guess that I am paid RM6.00 a day for being a senior teacher.

And so, after work, my colleagues and I headed to town to have a late lunch. We went to the Sabah Hawker Point at Miri Centrepoint.

For RM6.00, I bought myself a bowl of Salted Vegetable Seafood Bee Hoon Soup :

My colleague who also received the same appointment had the Asam Seafood Curry With Rice for RM6.00 :

My friend did not sing her rice any praises, so I assumed that the food is rather ordinary. I liked the Bee Hoon soup sometimes, but today's version was not sour enough for my liking.

Well, I guess with the official appointment, I have more authority over the department which I head. But as Spiderman says, "With great power comes great responsibility." ;))