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Author: Valentine Tawie Salok

Managing ‘double sessions’

Teaching is hard. It takes a lot of skill. Not everyone who tries can do it well. We need to admit that and act accordingly. We should reward and respect great teachers by paying them more, and we should stop rewarding seniority over effectiveness. –        Betsy DeVos, US Secretary of

Noisy drunkards mar funerals

Some heavy drinkers can’t sober up — they are dazed 24/7. They fall into the fire; it’s OK. They sleep in a stinking gutter; it’s OK. They urinate and vomit on their body; it’s OK. Every disgusting thing is OK to the drunkard. Vincent Okay Nwachukwu, author of ‘Weighty ‘n’

Elvis’ legacy world’s unity boost

People ask me where I got my singing style. I didn’t copy my style from anybody. Elvis Presley, American singer and actor regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century Elvis Aaron Presley is a religion the world over. His persona and music have united

Just a speck of dust

With a lot of push and sacrifices, not to mention going through lows and highs, a person might achieve some degree of success in his or her chosen pursuit, career and fields of interest. Many achieve success beyond their dreams and are amazed that they have come to such a

Getting to know true scourge of drugs

Only those who are affected in one way or the other would know the true scourge of drugs, especially if it involves abuse or addiction. An addict may think that drug abuse is his private matter but Malaysian laws say otherwise. My own experience and encounter with marijuana (pronounced as

High praise for Iban language and bards

Iban bards ‘lemambang’ are known for their special sing-song incantation skills. They are a popular group among the Iban tribe, especially those still practising paganism. The most revered of these special breed of Iban elders are the ‘timang jalung’ bards with their special voices and endurance performing all night long,

Miraculous healings by Iban shamans

“Don’t ever underestimate our local shaman or faith healer ‘manang’,” said a good friend and cousin Datuk August Buma, who retired three years ago as Sarawak’s director of Labour. He narrated to me a number of ‘belian’ (healing with sing-song chanting) incidents in Bintangor, Julau and Sarikei where some patients

Iban leader’s failed skyward journey

At Ketapang close to the tributary of Kayung River in West Kalimantan of old, there lived an Iban leader called Beji. According to stories from our forebears, Beji and his followers and fellow longhouse folk were told to leave Ketapang unless they change their cave dwelling into a new community

Art exhibitions, ‘bad omen’ jinx

Diana used to tell me she had a travel jinx, something I only really started to believe when the plane door fell off. – Neil Gaiman, English author of short fiction, novels, comic books nonfiction, and films Three times in the past my canvases were among scores of others given

Frequent blackouts irk Betong residents

SARATOK: Residents of Betong are seeing red over frequent blackouts in the division especially at longhouses in Saratok, Roban, Pusa, and Debak. These residents are certainly displeased by the power outage that could happen any time during the day and night, especially during early evening when people are in the