Hi everyone my name is Yajnesh and I’m from SJKT Raub.

Today I would like to talk

about my favourite book entitled Elephants have small eyes by Mimi Samuel. This story is
about large elephant who was always very proud and likes to boast about his strength to other
animals. He always likes to challenge all his friends which lead him to have no friends for him in
the jungle. One day, the elephant went to an orang asli village to eat the sugar canes. But
unfortunately, it didn’t realise that the orang asli people were waiting for him near the bushes to
attack him with their spears. The elephant screamed as the spears hit his ears and trunk. Poor Mr.
elephant ran into the jungle in pain. “Hmmmm…”However he accidentally ran into some
sharpened bamboo poles hidden in a bush. The bamboo poles pocked the elephant’s eyes which
made him to cry out loudly in pain. None of the animals from the jungle wanted to help the
elephant. But a worm pitied him. He offered his eyes to the elephant. The worm said since he
lives underground he does not need them. Well for the ending I’m not going to tell you what
happened as I want you all to read the book and enjoy as I did.

I really enjoyed reading this book because it has a very interesting storyline and the
pictures they have it is so mind blowing. As an animal lover, I loved the idea of the writer of
adding a few new details about certain animals and their features. I even learned my new words
in the glossary section in this book. Not only that I even enjoyed answering the comprehension
question given at the end of the book. I am pretty sure and would strongly recommend to all of
you my friends to read this book. We can buy this book at the nearby book shops. This book also
killed my curiosity on why elephants have such a small eyes. I even liked this book because from
this book I learned that we should always be nice to others and be humble to everyone. Thank
you.

Moving to the next part, now I would like to talk about the current issue that I chose,
which is Challenges of learning in the new normal. Due to the Covid-19 outbreak the whole
nation was declared in a pandemic state, where we had to live in the ‘new normal’ for quite a
long period of time. We learned to adapt our lifestyles with this Covid-19, and to adjust to a ‘new
normal’, which is a new way of living and going about our lives, work and communication with
the people around us. Adaptation and changes are considered ‘new normal’.

The disadvantage of learning in the new normal is lack of internet connectivity. As we all
know, in certain rural areas, the internet connectivity is poor and this leads to students who
struggle to attend the classes without any obstacle. Moreover, It lacks the filled with enthusiasm
kind of environment presented by a classroom. The lively and joyful situation of a classroom is
usually lacking in an online session. Futhermore, overexposure to gadgets presents its own
health hazards like headache, weak eyesight and lack of concentration.

However, online learning leaves students from different level without face-to-face
guidance from teachers or peers and they have a tough time understanding some of the topics
being taught. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the learning journey of many students
worldwide, especially those belonging to B40 communities. During this pandemic period, many
also had to share their devices with other family members. For instance, if the parents were
working and had work meetings to be taken using a laptop, the children were unable to attend
classes. Plus, the students even have to give way to their elder siblings who is going to sit for
their public exams. This made the students to skip their lessons. The learning process during the
pandemic was a hard ride for the students and also the parents. This was because, during the
pandemic period many people were unemployed and the nation was financially unstable.

Learning in new normal also made the students to sit at their places for a quite long
period and also to miss the funs with the group games followed by hands on activity conducted
by the teachers. This is because of we were not suppose to hold hands or even to share our things
with our friends.

Well those are my disadvantages. Ladies and gentlemen, before I end my speech let me
ask will this situation ever going to be normal or how long are we going to cope up with this
situation ? Thank you.