Respectful Public Title of Datuk

There is a myth about people in Malaysia having the opportunity to buy the public title of Datukship or even Tan Sri if you have the right connection with either the state government or federal government.

Why is such title so important? Such public title will place you high in the eyes of the public where such title holders are usually well to do people, having done lots of stuff that have benefitted the nation/state or did some extraordinary stuff while representing the nation/state's name.

Nevertheless, some people do deserve such title.

Some may abuse such title to further achieve their selfish ambitions or to enable them to carry out immoral / unlawful acts without being questioned or detected easily.

Reading the Star newspaper reports - Five Ah Long ‘kings’ nabbed and Datuk faces death penalty for drug trafficking, two persons with the public title of Datuk have been implicated.

I wonder when were these two Datuks been bestowed with the public title, before they became involved in such notorious crimes or when they were already involved in it? And which state government granted this public title to them? Or was it even the federal government? No personal profile checkings before issuing such high public titles to them?

It made such public title to be of no value if more Datuks are implicated in various crimes. Or is the myth real after all?
Tags: Datuk, Datukship, Tan Sri, Public Title

Fancy Winning a Bentley or Lambo?

Dubai airport's Dubai Duty Free section is really good with their promotion of getting travellers in buying the raffles tickets. Two thousand tickets on sale at 500 Dirham ..... a one in how many chance???

Imagine your grand prize is either a Bentley Continental Flying Spur or .....









..... a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560.

How not to be tempted when you see such prestige car models. No, I wasn't tempted.

Only one reason - a general Malaysian citizen will not be able to fork the enough money to pay for all those import taxes and other crazy duties to bring this car back to Malaysia if I do win it.

It was not easy to take this picture without anyone interrupting. It was so eye catching and grabbing everyone's attention.



I will usually get a seat way back the plane for my Dubai-Khartoum or Khartoum-Dubai flights. The plane is normally not full and I'll choose the row where there are three seats.

You'll normally get the whole three seats to yourself. Seldom sleep either but the comfort of having nobody next to you coupled with the armrest is priceless.

Moreover the plane's so-called kitchen is usually located at the back of the plane. No, not that I can chit chat with the pretty stewardesses but I can get my non-stop flow of drinks throughout the flight. Sipping your favourite drinks while watching a movie ................ back home, I won't get such luxury time to enjoy as such.

Not sure how long will I be in Khartoum for this trip but me and another colleague brought along more than a dozen DVD movies to watch.
Tags: Dubai Airport, Dubai Duty Free, Dubai, Khartoum, Bentley Continental Flying Spur, Lamborghini Gallardo LP560

Sim Card Malfunctioned - Whose Fault?

Replaced my mobile's sim card just last week at Maxis Centre located at Menara Maxis. The sim card just got KO on its own without warning. For almost five days, I was hoping for it to return back to normal and trying to arrange for a time to go to a Maxis Centre to check on the sim card.

It was unbearable with your sim card giving you problem. After work, off to Maxis Centre and approach the Hotlink counter after filling in a form.

Staff: May I help you sir?
Me: I think my sim card is not functioning at all. This is the message I'll get on my screen. (showing him the mobile screen)
Staff: Let me check your info first. I think your card has been issued for quite some time back.
Me: Yeah, maybe two years ago.
Staff: Time to change. Have you filled in the form to request for a sim card replacement?
Me: Yes!
Staff: RM10 is required for the sim card replacement.
Me: Why do I have to pay? It's your sim card that malfunctioned.
Staff: The sim card has been in used for so long. Various reasons could have contributed to it. Say the method of charging your mobile phone, sim card was not taken care of, your mobile's circuit may have caused the damage or someone could have mishandled your sim card.
Me: The sim card has an expiry date? Still it's your sim card that malfunctioned.
Staff: That's the company policy sir!

In my mind at that point of time, he has named more faults of mine than I could of his. So, he won? I'm the guilty party since all those reasons could have contributed to the demise of my sim card.

Why can't Maxis take the blame? Another sim card of mine from another telco has been working well for almost ten years now.

It's not the RM10 that I'm so attached to but it's more of a principal.
Tags: Maxis, Hotlink, Maxis Centre, Menara Maxis, Sim Card Replacement, Telco

PTAs Asking For Status Quo

Parents are voicing out now since they knew that their kids' PTAs could be used as an official channel to request the gahmen or the Ministry of Education to allow their kids' schools to remain status quo, i.e. to teach the Mathematics and Science subjects in the English language instead of reversing it back to the Malay language.

What to do? The gahmen went ahead without consulting the parents at schools. They are the ones that should be consulted but who cares about them. That's the gahmen that some have voted for and I hope that those voters are not the same people that are voting for the two subjects to be taught in English language now.

As PAGE has highlighted a possible avenue for PTAs to voice out their preferences, which was the school'one school did it via a PTA EGM as written in a previous blogpost.

Another school tried to do the same but was not that fortunate. The school authority of SMK Seri Hartamas managed to lock the school and bar those parents from entering the school premise to conduct the PTA meeting. The parents were adamant about the vote and it was conducted outside the school premise where majority of the parents that responded (more than 90%) voted for status quo.

The heat is picking ........ Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister apologised in a press conference saying that the parents or teachers shouldn't have been barred from entering the school to convene a PTA meeting.

On the other hand, the education ministry’s director-general Alimuddin Mohd Dom, has other feelings about it. Reason given - the PTA was not allowed to convene an EGM as its agenda to discuss the PPSMI policy placed the school’s teachers in a tight spot.

Now, more of the schools' PTAs are joining in .......... they are from SMK St Francis, SMK Gajah Berang, SMK Tinggi St David, SMK Canossa Convent, SMK Infant Jesus Convent, SM Catholic, SMJK Tinggi Cina, AM Yok Bin, SMK Tun Tuah, SM Pulau Sebang, Sekolah Tinggi Methodist Melaka and SMK (P) Methodist Melaka.

Is the gahmen or the education ministry doing anything about those requests? Or turn a deaf ear?

Related post - Parent Action Group for Education
Tags: Parent Action Group for Education, PAGE, Ministry of Education, Parent Teacher Association, PTA, Sekolah Kebangsaan, PPSMI, Science and Math in English, SMI, SMK Seri Hartamas

H1N1 Spreading Too Fast

As at todate, 32 dead, 203 new cases reported within last 24 hours, of which 15 were being treated inintensive care units and 67 patients are in isolation wards. A total of 1,982 cases have been confirmed and mostly were cured.

Anti-viral treatment has now been proven to be effective if the medicine was given to the affected people within 48 hours of getting the sickness.

If you have the following signs such as difficulty in breathing, fever, continuous chest pains, cough and diarrhea, please be aware.

Who are considered the high-risk groups of people?
* children who are below five years
* senior citizens 65 years and above
* children and youths under 19 who are on aspirin medication
* pregnant women
* people suffering from asthma, chronic lung disease, organ failure, cardiovascular, liver and blood system diseases
* diabetics
* obese people
* those with a low immunity

Drink more water and reduce unhealthy food!!

Lessen your exposure to the general public whenever possible.
Tags: H1N1, Swine Flu, Health, Anti-Viral Treatment

Leo & Kujo Session

My two puppies became 'larger' lately. Their appetite are growing too, gulping larger portion of food.










Good thing they do consume white rice too, if not the cost of feeding them will be really high.














Leo chewing on a small piece of chicken bone much to his delight.











Playing time after meal.
Tags: Puppy, Dog

Parent Action Group for Education

The Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) met with several key PTA Chairmen or their representatives today at a closed-door session to brainstorm its next course of action.

Earlier, the Prime Minister had expressly stated that due consideration may be given to schools that desire to maintain the teaching of science and math in English (SMI) in their schools, either primary or secondary.

All schools that want to do so are advised to urge its PTA to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to agree to maintain the policy and to convert the status of the school from Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) or Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) to SK(SMI) or SMK(SMI).

Failing that, parents are to initiate a signature drive to garner support for the cause indicating the name of the school, the name of the parent and the age of the child.

Meanwhile, PAGE urges the Ministry of Education to conduct its own studies as to which schools have benefited from the policy and which desire to maintain it.

Parents and stakeholders are also strongly urged to write to the Malay press (Berita Harian, Utusan Malaysia) seeking for the fourth option, that is, to maintain the policy in your school.

For secondary schools that want to retain the English option, you are encouraged to work with your primary feeder schools, to do likewise, to ensure the continuity of learning and to maintain the standards already proudly upheld by your school.

It is most important that PAGE needs to know the names of the schools interested. We need the numbers to succeed. Let us help each other out.

Copies of all EGM resolutions or signatures will be sent to PAGE for compilation and which will be forwarded to the Prime Minister in due course. PAGE may be contacted via email at pagemalaysia@gmail.com or visit our blog at PAGE Malaysia.

Thank you.

By Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, Chair
Parent Action Group for Education
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One school did convene such an EGM to decide on whether the school should maintain teaching Science and Math in English Language. Which school? In the EGM, the PTA of Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Damansara even changed the status of the school from Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) to Science and Math in English (SMI).

97% of the parents voted for the school to continue with the English Language for that two subjects. I think the parents should have their say and not just leave it to the politicians to decide our young kids' future. Did the government seek the public's viewpoint before this?

The school or PTA will have to let the Ministry of Education know of their EGM outcome. Must be a slap on the face of the ministry. Will there be more schools conducting such EGM too?
Tags: Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, Parent Action Group for Education, PAGE, Ministry of Education, Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Damansara, Parent Teacher Association, PTA, Sekolah Kebangsaan, PPSMI, Science and Math in English, SMI