Malaysia Need to Rush Space Flight

Malaysia's intention to send the second trained astronaut up to space may have to be rushed. Although the Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Dr Maximus Ongkili has mentioned that there isn't sufficient funds to go ahead with it, I think the Malaysian government may have dig from somewhere to accommodate it. Why?

Russian Federal Space Agency ("RFSA") that accommodated Malaysia's first astronaut on the Soyuz spacecraft on 10 Oct 2007 has announced that they won't be selling seats anymore from year 2010 onwards as the International Space Station ("ISS") won't be able to fit additional space tourist. Reason is because the ISS operators are increasing their crew members up to six personnel in year 2010.

RFSA has stated that they do sell seats for space tourist ........ hehehehe. And Malaysia bought one seat last year and thinking of buying the next one????? RFSA has mentioned that space tourists have paid up to US$40 million for a round trip to space. So, I'm not surprised that the Malaysian government has paid a hefty sum and then claimed that the nation has started a space programme.

Due to this reason, no wonder till today, NASA has never listed our sole astronaut as a real astronaut but just a Spaceflight Participant.

Reading: Russia plans to cease space tourism from 2010 - China Post

Related post: Space Programme to Launch Another Astronaut?
Tags: Space, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Maximus Ongkili, Russian Federal Space Agency, Soyuz Spacecraft, International Space Station, Russia, Space Tourist, Space Programme, Space Participant, NASA

Facebook Used to Track Criminals

Facebook is becoming more useful lately even to the extent of it being used to track down criminals. Not just common criminals but war crimes criminals.

A group of forty organisations formed Wanted For War Crimes who has used Facebook and Google Earth to hunt two war crimes criminals in Sudan. They are Sudan's Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmed Haroun (they put him to be in charge of the right department or they named the department correctly) and Janjaweed leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman. The Facebook account created is called War Crimes Wanted List.

Althought these two individuals have been charged and indicted by the International Criminal Court, the Sudanese government has rejected the charges by the ICC on these two individuals linking them to the heinous war crimes in Darfur where 200,000 have been killed and millions displaced from homes.

See how powerful is the internet nowadays.
Tags: Facebook, Africa, Sudan, War Crimes, International Criminal Court, ICC, Darfur, War Crimes, Janjaweed, Wanted For War Crimes, War Crimes Wanted List, Ahmed Haroun, Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman

Gadgets Are Running Really Fast

What do I mean by the title of this blog posting?

Technology gadget manufacturers are keeping in touch with the speed required by consumers to run more complicated softwares. The manufacturers not only ensured that the equipment could run at a fast speed but they got sports car manufacturers involved to understand more about speed.

Asus got Lamborghini to take part in a handheld PDA phone project. The gadget is called Asus Lamborghini ZX1 which runs on a 450MHz Texas Instruments processor with a 128MB memory. It could connect you real fast to the internet world via HSDPA, Wi-Fi and GPS.

Price listing is not available yet for this gadget.

Not to be outdone, Acer got Ferrari or was it Ferrari that got Acer to tie-up with them to challenge Lamborghini. Acer has came out with this notebook or laptop (to some people in the world) which runs on the AMD Turion processor in which the notebook will be named as Acer Ferrari 1100. With a price listing of Australian Dollar $3,999 (available in Aussie now), I think only die-hard Ferrari fans would buy this notebook just for the logo sake.

There are additional buttons that would allow you to access certain programmes at a slightly faster rate. For example, inclusion of touch-sensitive shortcut buttons for email, Internet and a programmable application and the Acer Empowering Technology button. I think I can outdo the user with the current notebook that I'm using.........hehehe
Tags: Asus, Lamborghini, Asus Lamborghini ZX1, Texas Instruments Processor, Acer, Ferrari, Acer Ferrari 1100, AMD Turion, Technology, Gadget, PDA Phone, Notebook, Laptop

Malaysian Sailor to Sail the World

A Malaysian sailor by the name of Captain Ariffin Abdul Aziz hailing from the state of Seremban (but the Star newspaper reported that he was from Terengganu??????) would be venturing into the sea by sailing round the world with his yacht, christened as Ulu Mulu.

The yacht was sponsored by Samling Group which was sent to Australia for upgrading / repair in preparation for this feat. Captain Ariffin Abdul Aziz's previous long distance experience was sailing from from Easter Island to Miri, a coastal city in the state of Sarawak, a distance of 2,800 nautical miles.

In conjunction with Sarawak's 45th anniversary of independence (?????? 45th???????), this sail-around-the-world event would be launched from Miri. Captain Ariffin is aiming to sail around the world in 180 days. Will he be able this break the previous Malaysian record held by Datuk Azahar Mansor, who travelled round the world in 190 days covering 25,444 nautical miles using the Jalur Gemilang yacht?

This feat has been delayed several times already and now he requires RM1.0 million from sponsors for this feat. Hopefully this request of sponsorship won't end up like the Solo Flying Peace Mission by Captain Mohd Fairuz Mohd Sakirin.

In the case of Captain Mohd Fairuz, he has been trying to lift his plane off the ground since year 2000 till now. First he claimed that financial constraints held him up.

Then in year 2004, he said that the Middle East conflicts may affect his flying mission.

During year 2005, Captain Mohd Fairuz tried to raise funds by participating in TV3's, one of Malaysia's main TV station, nationwide roadshows.

In year 2006, RM15 million was required to launched his pet project and several 'big shots' (including the Minister of the Tourism Ministry) had offered supports but everything quieten down as time passes by.

By 2007, the cost for the take-off has touched RM20 million. Out of this amount, he has received RM10 million but the project is heading to nowhere. The RM10 million that was given to him has not been accounted for. Did he buy the plane that he wanted to use for this flying mission? Who gave him that money? What happened to the money now? Who got to use it at the same time?

I have a friend who knew about this mission and the stuff that he told me was unbelievable. Can't disclose much (no documentation to proof it) on that as it would tantamount to me being sued for no reason later on.

Next thing I want to highlight is why did the Star newspaper quote that Sarawak would be celebrating its 45th anniversary of independence. Sarawak is one of the states in Malaysia and the nation has celebrated its 50th independence day last 31 Aug. You mean to say that the Sarawak state government has disagreed with the independence year of 1957?

This is really confusing. A state within Malaysia is celebrating another different date for their independence. This is a slap on the face of the federal government!
Tags: Captain Ariffin Abdul Aziz, Captain Mohd Fairuz Mohd Sakirin, Ulu Mulu, Samling Group, Yacht, Miri, Sarawak

Why Bother Waking Up at 3am to Study?

I'm labelling this particular blog posting under "Tragedy". Why tragedy of all labels? Read the following write-up by a SPM leaver (SPM is a secondary school's final exam that would determine where you would further your studies i.e. either to ).
---------------------------

I refer to the letters A daughter devastated, a mother with no answer and Education system quota abused.

To ‘Schoolteacher, I would like to share with my case which is very similar to your case. I am a SPM leaver with an SPM result of 11A1s and I have a mother, whose is also a teacher in a government primary school. I am also the eldest daughter and I have two more younger brothers. With my family middle-class income, it's impossible for me to further my studies at a private college/university or overseas unless with a scholarship. I am pretty confident with my achievements as I hold extra-curricular posts eg, ,vice president, secretary, school prefect and I even went for the National Service programme.

I understand your daughter's feeling pretty well because I also was rejected for matriculation also for most of the scholarships that I've applied for (Petronas,Yayasan TNB,Yayasan Telekom,Yayasan Khazanah). Until now, I've only been called for an JPA interview.

Honestly, I don't really feel surprised I got rejected for those GLC scholarships and matriculation. As we know, matriculation is only open 10% for us, the non-bumis. Just imagine, out of 100 students, there are only 10 seats for us, the non-bumis. Frankly, I would feel surprise if I got an offer for matriculation.

In my school, there are about 20+ straight As scorers and they also did not get any offer for matriculation or other scholarships. We have only gone for the JPA interview so far. Even for the Petronas interview (they called it Petronas Educamp), out of the 20+ top scorers, only two managed to get selected. (One of them scored 11 A1s and one A2, another scored 11As and one B3, both non-bumis)

However, some of my Malay got an offer to do matriculation even with an SPM result of only 5As. I felt so hurt. I am so sad because I seem to be discriminated against. Nobody appreciates my talent, nobody appreciates my ability. As if our country has more than enough talented scholars.

So, to our country’s leaders, don't blame those talented scholars who do not want to come back to serve Malaysia. Don't forget who ‘threw’ them away before treating them as if they were rubbish. Frankly, sometimes I do question myself, why bother to torture myself? Why bother to wake up at 4am, sometimes even 3am to study? Why bother to score a straight A1s?

My mother once told me she is so disappointed with the Malaysian education system. Although I strived hard to score well in the SPM, but in the end, I ended up with no scholarship offer. Well, I am left the one and only hope- JPA. But my mother advised me not to put to much hope on this government scholarship.

Come on, after 51 years of independence, racism still exists in our country. We, the non-bumis, are like the blacks in US. In the past, US white people detested and discriminated against the blacks. They even put notices like,’No dogs and Blacks allowed’ in public places. Now, our government is putting up notices like ‘Only 10% non-bumis are allowed’ for matriculation.
(And who knows if the figure of ‘10%’ is true? They might take 7% of non-bumis only, who knows?)

Our government also puts up notices like ‘These courses are only reserved for the bumiputera’ for IPTA course with SPM qualifications. For your information, courses like,’Asasi Sains’, ‘Prepatory courses for medicine’ at local unisare only for bumiputeras. Non-bumis, wait until your next life!

Most of my friends and me will choose to challenge of the tough STPM if we really don't get any scholarship offer.And I believe, STPM is the last choice but is it is also the choice of most non- bumis after a series of disappointments. I observed a few batches of my own Form 6 seniors and there were almost zero bumis in the Form 6 Science Stream. Of course, since they got into matriculation with 5As,or even with 2As from SPM, why bother to take the STPM?

My last word to ‘Schoolteacher’ is that all those moral values and history they teach in school is really rubbish. My friends and I knew this when we started on those subjects. To ‘Hamisu’, my mother has already advised me to be a Pakatan Rakyat supporter.

By Disappointed Student

---------------------------
And the government expected the current students to be supportive of the ruling government with all this biasness / discrimination on-going? I have seen this since my schooling days 20 years ago.

This type of biasness / discrimination will certainly cause anger / deep hatred harboured deep inside many people. The political tsunami hasn't really affected the government enough to change for the better.
Tags: SPM, STPM, Form 6, JPA, Matriculation, Discrimination, Pakatan Rakyat

Shoud Motorists Watch Out For Motorcyclists?

The call for motorists to be more aware of motorcyclists on the road is right in terms of the motorcyclists' life.

The Selangor Chief Minister called on motorists to look out for them and don't just switch lanes as and when the motorists wanted to. I would agree from the viewpoint if it was a two lane road but what if we were on the highway.

Just go on the Federal Highway that links the city of Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya any time of the day now. You would see motorcyclists on the fast lane, the middle lane and the slow lane. Why are they all over the place when there is an existing motorcycle lane for them on the left hand side of the highway.

Try using the Kuala Lumpur-Sungai Besi-Seremban Highway that pass by the Armed Force's airport. The motorcyclists would be on all the lanes, switching lanes as and when they want on the first signal they gave. Although there isn't a motorcycle lane for them on this highway, there is an existing emergency lane which is wide enough for a car too.

On both highways, lots of motorcyclists don't use the motorcycle or emergency lanes. The motorcyclists do travel on very high speed on those motor vehicles' lanes assuming cars don't change lanes at all. Each time I see such motorcyclist speeding by, I was very sure that they wouldn't be able to brake on time if a car was to change lane at that point of time.

In the first place, motorcyclists were not supposed to be on those motor vehicles' lanes but motorists still have to look out for them. And if there is an accident, whose fault would it be when proper lanes were provided for the motorcyclists.

I would understand if it was in my residential area where most roads are only dual lanes. But I still do notice motorcyclists weaving their ways here and there as if they were on the highways. How much could we look out for them in such situations?

I have experienced before that at the point of looking at the rear mirror, I was clear of any motor vehicles or motorcyclists but when you make the turn, I could hear the motorcyclist braking to the full extent and his legs on the ground trying to do a fred flinstones' style of braking. He panicked too. In one split second, he appeared from nowhere and guess at what speed was he travelling at.

My point is - that motorcyclists should be riding carefully as well on the right places and they should be looking out for cars too where there isn't any motorcycle or emergency roads available for them.

Last but not least, why aren't any policemen nabbing those irresponsible motorcyclists travelling on the Federal Highway (this highway is off limit to motorcyclists owing to an existing motorcycle lanes made available). Don't tell me "I don't know that motorcyclists are using the Federal Highway motor vehicles' lanes".
Tags: Motorist, Motorcyclist, Motorcycle Lane, Motor Vehicle, Federal Highway

Iran Breached UN Rules in Malaysia

Malaysia hosted the Defence Services Asia 2008 from 21 Apr to 24 Apr in Kuala Lumpur and Iran was one of the countries invited to participate. Countries will showcase their latest defence technologies, defence system, security products, missiles, arms and no trade would be conducted.

Iran came to this exhibition bringing their missiles, missile systems and equipment. They set everything up for the exhibition and welcomed dignitaries on the opening day on 21 Apr. Everything was fine until the USA and British exhibitors claimed that Iran's stuff has contravened UN Security Council resolutions 1747 and 1803.

Malaysia's Ministry of Defence, whom their Minister had officiated the opening ceremony, sounded the exhibition organiser who quickly did their work in closing Iran's booths comprising nine companies and got all their stuff out of the exhibition area.

The following questions have to be answered:-
a) If the military and defence equipment brought into Malaysia do contravene the UN Security Council resolutions, please tell me how was it brought out of Iran in the first place?

b) How come our port customs didn't check the papers properly to ensure whether such military and defence equipment were allowed to be imported into our country?

c) How come the Ministry of Defence didn't place any officials at the port customs, since knowing that such a big exhibition was to be held, to ensure that proper green light has been obtained for the importation of such military and defence equipment to be brought into Malaysia?

d) How come our Ministry of Defence's personnel who were at the exhibition place didn't realise that Iran's military and defence equipment were in contravention of UN Security Council resolutions until they were alerted by the USA and British exhibitors?

These military and defence equipment were too big to be hidden away and yet such a blunder. What more when genuine smugglers intend to sneak in illegal stuff into Malaysia. We are talking about military and defence equipment here and not just plain food.

Reading: Iran violated UN resolution - Star
Tags: Defence Services Asia 2008, DSA 2008, Iran, Malaysia, UN, United Nations, UN Security Council