Malaysian School Band Took World No.1

Malaysian newspapers are being used by the government in propaganda news and not many has picked up news that are really encouraging to the whole nation.

A group of students from Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur went through many challenges in winning the world's grand prize, that is the grand prize at the World Band Challenge 2009 that was held in Modena, Italy about two weeks back.

Didn't know about it?

Congrats to the 90 members of the cadet corps band and the headmistress, Pn. Azizah Othman, for bringing some positive stuff back to the land that is going boinkers.

Their victory is not just pure luck.

On many occasions, I have heard of many comments from Malaysians that some people are rich because they were lucky. Some say that they won that competition because they were lucky in having better players.

People who are successful have went through many hardships, challenges, commitments, practises, arguments, sicknesses, objections or ridicules but they hanged on.

To this group of 90 band members, I salute you!

Reading: VI school band world's best - New Straits Times
Tags: Victoria Institution, VI, World Band Challenge 2009, Modena, Italy

Surviving in KL

Back in KL after a tiring long flight from Khartoum to KL. Checked into airport at 6pm after a meeting for my 7.20pm flight. At the meeting, I was able to log in to check in online - thanks to technology.

The Emirates flight was not full and I got a seat at the back of the plane with nobody on the same row with me i.e. two other empty seats on my left. But it was spoilt by the food tray in front of me. It kept falling down as the hook was loose and couldn't keep the food tray at its place. When the plane shakes a bit, the food tray will fall ..... have to stuff some newspapers at the pouch in front to stop it from falling. Disturbed me for four hours and in between watched Race to Witch Mountain movie.

When I arrived at the Dubai Airport, it's the usual of buying those pistachios and cashew nuts, my favourites. Hurried to the Emirates Lounge for my meal ..... nice meal definitely. A transit time of almost three hours wasn't that long since I was occupied by food ... hehe

The long flight of seven hours from Dubai to KL was occupied by three movies, Jerusalema, 12 Rounds and 17 Again. All are recommended movies to catch but I don't think Jerusalema will be shown in Malaysian cinemas owing to its violence. Good thing they have movies on board otherwise I'll be bored to death.

Reached KL at 2.20pm and reached home around 4pm. Here goes my jet lag issue again. I had dinner early and knocked off by 8pm plus but I woke up at 3am ...... very unfortunate indeed!

No point rolling on the bed and I got up looking at those contractors' quotations again. Reading those favourite websites again and time flies. Went out for breakfast about 7am plus and spent or waste my time at the mamak stall savouring my teh tarik and roti telur.

By noon, I went to check my new house and found that the developer has fixed most of the defects. Glad to see that.

On the same night, I knocked off early by 9pm plus but woke up again at 3am plus ..... what is this?????

To make things worse, I got flu and sore throat. H1N1 or swine flu as requested by our Ministry of Information??????? Went to see doctor and hoping for a 1 week quarantine hehhehehehhe but that was not to be. Just normal running nose.

Was tired upon eating those medications but I held on in taking a nap, hoping for a real knock down effect by night time. By 10pm plus, I couldn't tahan anymore and went to bed at last. 4am .... 4am. That was the time on the clock. I'm awake again. My my my.

Skipped church on Sunday morning as I know I was too tired and do not want to frighten people with my sneezing and so on. In case of anyone catching the H1N1 in church, I would not be the culprit then.

Looking at the last three days, I made a mistake in holding to my sleep when I was tired. I was trying to stay awake during day and sleep during night. But this worked against me. I should have slept when I was tired no matter what the time was as I was still having a break. It's Monday night now and I'm still having that flu coupled with bad 'heatiness' within my body due to insufficient sleep. Got to see doctor again during the afternoon and got two days of MC for me to rest on Tuesday as well.

Didn't meet any friends at all in the last few days as I just want to rest.

Need to recover by Tuesday evening in order to report at office on Wed morning .........
Tags: Kuala Lumpur, Emirates, Emirates Lounge, Dubai Airport, Jerusalema, 12 Rounds, 17 Again, Race to Witch Mountain, H1N1

Hanging On to Malaysian Politics

Posted by Hannah Yeoh, the state assemblywoman for Subang Jaya:-

So many people have been telling me just how frustrated they are with the current political situation in our country. Some have told me that they regretted voting for change because of the political instability now and would prefer returning to their old style of voting - vote for stability and forget about having a stronger opposition and greater check and balance. I shudder at the thought of this!

One needs to remember the reason why we are seeing such great resistance for change is simply because there is much to lose for those who have been in power for so long. For decades there has been so much abuse of power, unchecked misuse of public funds and plain dirty corruption. With a stronger opposition now, they stand to lose their illegal sources of income and some may even be charged and sent to prison if they are found guilty.

With this in mind, they will fight at all costs to reclaim back power and to ensure they can continue to steal public funds from the people for their own enrichment. We are not just dealing with differences in politics; we are combating evil forces who will not rest till they secure back their powers and illegal sources of income.

Sometimes I feel equally frustrated and disillusioned about the political situation too. Sometimes I lie awake thinking of how to effect change in this land. Some days I cry while driving in between meetings thinking of what's left for the future generation in this land if we give up now.

I have endured much verbal attack from political enemies, accusation after accusation of me not doing anything for my constituents and etc. No one truly understands the resistance we face daily in discharging our duties except for my fellow PR assemblymen.

Robert Kennedy once said ‘*Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator and change has its enemies.*’ Our enemies are resisting change but we must stand firm and continue to push for a competent, accountable and transparent government.

At the end of each day, as I lay myself to sleep, I ask God for strength, wisdom and protection to face the next. I look forward to the end of the term when I can tell the people of Subang Jaya that I have remained clean and have not stolen any of the taxpayers' funds.

As reminded by Raja Petra in his blog "*Please continue your struggle to make Malaysia a better place for our future generation. This country belongs to them and it is for them that we struggle.*" All hope is not lost. Come the next election, vote out the corrupt once and for all. Hang in there supporters and friends, the best is yet to come!
Tags: Malaysian Politics, Hannah Yeoh, Subang Jaya

Identification Card Issue

In Malaysia, the compulsory use of the identification card was in existence since my parents' teenage time. It was to identify the general public against the communists or some terrorists running around Malaysia, a weeding process. Not sure on how to go about in getting the card done.

But as I grew up during my era (it's not that long ago, ok?), each boy or girl who reaches the age of 12 will need to go to the National Registration Department to apply for an Identification Card, credit card size.

Nowadays, I see babies getting a new designed Identification Card once the parents register the name of the new born child.

In a way, all Malaysians (including illegal fellas who still can get the Malaysian identification cards thru the illegal means via syndicates in which I don't know how they got it done), generally go about their lifes with this small piece of Identification Card whether it's for employment, banking, education, dealings with government depts and moving in & out of highly securitised buildings.

Now, the new Identification Card comes with a chip embedded into it and it could store your full personal particulars, health info, driving licence info and soon, could act as an ATM card????

Reactions from the people in the following two countries have negative feelings over the Identification Card situation:-

UK
The Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, has just announced recently that the compulsory Identification Card scheme will be scrapped. Maybe it was due to lack of fundings as a figure of £4.8 billion was mentioned to implement it.

Maybe it was a political decision as the Conservative party stated that they will scrap the national scheme if their party wins the forthcoming general election.

But it remains compulsory for the foreigners.

USA
There is this guy that equipped himself with Matrics antenna and a Motorola reader into his car. As he moves around, his reader could scan nearby people's info from their identification cards, passports, driver licences from within a distance of twenty feet.

Such reading is possible due to the fact that RFID chips (Radio Frequency Identification) are embedded into such card or passport.

Since 1 June 2009, all americans are required to equip themselves with a RFID tag document to travel.

Somehow, it was mentioned in the same article that there's a fundamental flaw with RFID - each chip is built to faithfully transmit its unique identifier "in the clear, exposing the tag number to interception during the wireless communication." ......... oooooops!

To further enhance or not to implement at all?????
Tags: Identification Card, Radio Frequency Identification, RFID, RFID Chip, RFID Tag, Matrics Antenna, Motorola Reader

A Need to Update EPF Nomination List?

Do you know anything about updating your beneficiary listing with Employees Provident Fund ("EPF") even though you knew that you have nominated a number of names there some time back. Just when you thought you have done everything required, please read the following Q&A and you'll understand better.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Reuben,

Thank you for your query which has been referred directly to me by Mr. Ewe Jin. Please find our responses below:

1. What precedes the EPF.....the will or the EPF nomination?

The EPF nomination will always super cede the will.

2. Suppose I nominate 25% each for my son and daughter and the remainder 50% for my spouse, if an accident were to befall both of us, then what happen? Will my children be getting 50% each automatically?
· Should an EPF member dies at the same time as his or her nominee, the nomination portion that was bequeathed to that nominee will be invalid. Therefore if an accident were to befall both you and your spouse, 50 percent cent of your EPF savings or the nomination portion which has been bequeathed to your spouse will be invalid.
· This 50 per cent will be subjected to procedures under 'EPF savings without nomination' in which the first priority for the right to claim the member's savings goes to the appointed administrator of the deceased member's estate.
· This therefore means that 50 per cent of your EPF's savings will not be paid automatically to your children

3. Furthermore, if fate would have it that the 4 of us suddenly meet our maker, then what is the outcome?
· The same principle applies as above i.e. the nominations will be invalid. In such a case, withdrawal of EPF savings will be subjected to procedures under 'EPF savings without nomination' in which the first priority for the right to claim the member's savings goes to the appointed administrator of the deceased member's estate.

I hope the above answers have helped to shed some light to your queries. If you have any other queries, please email me.

Thanks and best regards,
Nik Affendi Jaafar
General Manager,
Public Relations, EPF

----- Original Message -----
From:Reuben PuanTo:ewejin@thestar.com.my
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 10:20 PM
Subject: About EPF Account

Hi Ewe Jin,I am Reuben. I read your Monday articles with interest. I should be going to the EPF web site for further details but I think there are still a lot of ignorant people around and maybe also some instances of mixed up at the EPF office. Maybe you should also highlight the following.

1. What preceed the EPF.....the will or the the EPF nomination?
2. Suppose I nominate 25% each for my son and daughter and the remainder 50% for my spouse, if an accident were to befall both of us, then what happen? Will my children be getting 50% each automatically?
3. Furthermore, if fate would have it that the 4 of us suddenly meet our maker, then what is the outcome?

Thanks.

Regards,
Reuben Puan

---------------------------------------------------------------

Find out more in the EPF FAQ on Nomination. After reading it, go get your company's HR Dept to organise a nomination campaign with EPF to come to your office to do an exercise for everyone. HR Dept's work is not confined to recruitment and payroll only.

Tags: Employees Provident Fund, EPF, EPF Nomination

Public Transportation in a Mess

In 2008, the previous Prime Minister increased the petrol pump prices up to a staggering increase of 40%. The fuel subsidy was reduced as the government said that it will be too expensive to maintain the fuel price below RM2.00 per litre.

The former Prime Minister did mention that with the saving of fuel subsidy, the government will use those saved fuel subsidy to improve public transportation for the general public. As it will be expensive to travel with a personal motor vehicle, the government will try to make it easier to travel with the public transportation.

Then news of extended the LRT lines at both ends reaching populated areas were greeted with gladness.

A year now, allllllllllllllllllllllllllllll were just political talk only.

The government has to cover that and they came out with a new idea now.

What now?

Simple, increase the fare prices for all buses and taxis. Aiyah why didn't the goverment think of this when they increased the petrol price then.

There would be repercussions from motor vehicle users if government increased the petrol price. Now, there will certainly be repercussions from many bus commuters and those who rely on taxis to move about, more of such consumers actually.

Why does the government want to increase such fare prices in this time of economy downturn?
Reason given - an increase in fare would motivate the operators to give efficient transport services.

You know what ................. the reason given is totally bullshit.

Who are those operators that will gain? Kuala Lumpur's bus companies and taxis are generally owned by the private corporate sector and I'm sure those bosses will be laughing all their way to the bank with this implementation.

Why not they improve their services first before you reward them with a fare increment?

What will they think of come next year?

Reading: Fare hike to spur efficient transport services, Nazri says -Edge Malaysia
Tags: Malaysia Public Transportation, Bus Fares, Taxi Fares, Fuel Subsidy

Change of Language for Students

reIs my country the only country in the world that changes the language of learning Mathematics and Science subjects in schools?

It was taught in English in the early days, for example, my dad's era. By the time I started schooling, at age 7, all subjects were taught in Bahasa Malaysia, the national language except for English subject of course.

Six years ago, under the premiership of Tun Dr Mahathir, the government changed the language for the teaching of Mathematics and Science subjects only. Main reasons for the change was to improve the learning of the English language and that English language is the lingua franca for both of these subjects amongst Mathematicians and Scientists in the world. So be it.

Six years later today, my government thought it was unwise to do so and now they have reverted the situation. But it won't be implemented immediately as I'm sure school textbooks won't be ready for next year's new school term.

The government mentioned that both of the subjects will be taught in Bahasa Malaysia from year 2012.

I really pity those students out there. For they have learnt these two subjects in English for the last six years, now they have to unlearn what they have learnt in English terms and absorb new terms in Bahasa Malaysia.

Not that I'm against the Bahasa Malaysia language as I was taught in this language from Primary 1 all the way to Secondary 5.

Let's look at the following scenario:-
a) Students in Secondary 1 in year 2009 will still be taught in English for that two subjects till year 2011 where they will be in Secondary 3.

Come year 2012, both of these subjects will be taught in Bahasa Malaysia. Will the Secondary 4 students by then be able to catch up fast enough so that they will be ready for the SPM in the following year.

I guess this batch of students are still considered lucky.

b) Students in Secondary 2 in year 2009 will still be taught in English for that two subjects till year 2011 where they will be in Secondary 4.

In the year where they are supposed to sit for the public examination at the end of year 2012, both of these subjects will be taught in Bahasa Malaysia or in their mother tongues (Mandarin or Tamil). Will both of these subjects be examined in English or Bahasa Malaysia during the SPM examination? Will it affect alllllllllllllllllllllllllll the students?

This is the exam that will determine whether they'll be furthering their studies at STPM or local universities.

c) The same situation goes on for the Primary students who are in Primary 3 now. This batch of students will be sitting for the Primary 6 public examination in year 2012 and they'll be learning Maths and Science in Bahasa Malaysia for the first time and their exams will be in Bahasa Malaysia too.

Really sorry for the students who are in Secondary 2 this year as by year 2012, they won't have any past year exam papers to refer to (that is in the same language).

Teachers have been attending courses in English language so that they will know how to teach the students.

Students have been learning in English language and they are being tested.

All those textbooks printed in English language will have to be thrown away and more dump sites have to be located in preparation for millions of textbooks / workbooks / teaching materials.

Bravo!

Reading: Hard On The Kids - Malaysia Today
Tags: Mathematics, Science, English Language, Bahasa Malaysia, Primary School, Secondary School