Klip's Apercu

Paul The Octopus

2010-07-09T19:43:00.004+08:00

Whether or not you are following the 2010 FIFA World Cup, I believed that you would have noticed our little octopus friend, Paul with his psychic abilities. Paul has correctly predicted the results of several matches which includes Germany's lost to Serbia. Just few days ago, Paul which correctly predicted Spain's win over Germany has once again won him recognition of his ability. Up to date, Paul has a prediction accuracy of 100% in the 2010 FIFA World Cup while scoring approximately 91% accuracy in the Euro 2008.

Paul the Octopus, or Paul Oktopus, male was born in 2008 in England. Now, he lives in a tank at Sea Life Oberhausen in Germany. Apparently, Paul got his name from a title of a children poem name Der Tintenfisch Paul Oktopus.

So, the question is raised. How did they even learned that Paul has this special ability? The answer lies in his intelligence demonstrated since young. Paul's unusual way of looking at visitors when they approached him made the workers at Sea Life start to search for his talents. (It's quite unconvincing that his psychic abilities was discovered just because he looked at visitors in an unique way. In normal circumstances, we would probably just describe it as 'cute' but the workers managed to discover his special talent. That's just interesting...)

Now, Paul is famous and is a money generating machine. However, his prediction on the lost of Germany to Spain placed him in great problem. Germany's fans are angry and most of them wants Paul to be served as their dinner. The Germans love seafood! (Paul is just an octopus, no point being angry over his predictions. He predicted the outcome, unlike the Uruguay referee who misjudged that goal during the Germany vs England match. Unless, Germany was demotivated by his prediction. There is always a loser in every game. If today Spain lost, then what will the Spain fans do? Cook Paul? Then, Paul would have long been dead.)

Will Paul end up like this?

Looking Back..

2010-06-19T01:13:00.002+08:00

Well, it's real early on a Saturday morning, two weeks since the start of mid-term break and also one more day before school reopens. So, it shouldn't be to early to review and take a look back on what was done so far throughout the fourteen 'school-less' days like what many schooling bloggers are blogging about.

The first more interesting activity is watching Shrek-Forever After 3D. How was it? I shall say it's so so only, not very impressive plus the 3D didn't bring out much effect. After watching the trailers of other 3D movies, they are definitely better. Since it isn't interesting, NEXT!

Although I called this fourteen days 'school-less', I was in fact most of the time in school doing my CO2 Car Project. Basically, the objective of the project is to propel the car forward using carbon dioxide, but for us it ain't going anywhere. Days and days we were in school, but time spent was unproductive. Looking at things, it will be last minute work again as always.

One thing that satisfied me the most is eating the Japanese food in Starhill KL. I love the eel, Unagi they called it (if I'm not mistaken). As for the raw fish, although it was fresh and taste good, I can't really take much, thinking of it makes my stomach upside down. Fortunately the main course wasn't raw.

Of course, here and there, spent some time doing Add Math Project and Mag Inc. Yeah, nearly missed out World Cup. Football was something worth looking forward and this will be the only time I watch football every four years. Haha. That's definitely something hot to talk about even till school starts. Argentina vs Korea and Brazil vs North Korea were quite good matches.

This holiday was supposed to be fun and exciting but it turned out quite boring and empty despite having many plans before the holidays. However, the realty is that starting Monday, all papers will be filling up our 'inbox' faster than we can process them, so be prepared!

World Cup Is In The Air

2010-06-16T01:07:00.003+08:00

Year 2010, four years after the 2006 Germany FIFA World Cup, it is South Africa's turn to hold this most awaited sporting event after the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

With an expected audience of 26 billion worldwide, World Cup is definitely the most-watched event and of course a great time for MONEY, BIG MONEY! Gambling companies, illegal bookies, football fans, TV service providers (look at Astro), etc are trying to earn or win as much money as possible in this one month of football craziness in one way or another. So, World Cup is a big business. If Ascot Sports was given the license by the government, it will be perfect for them. Looking at things now, sadly, there's another four more years to go, or will that day ever come? However, nothing to be sad of for us who don't gamble, right?

You may say that I don't gamble, I'm not in this line of business, anything, so who cares? But, World Cup is still always around you. First thing in the morning, you read the newspapers, football. Turn on the TV, Astro showing the results of last night's match plus getting people to sign up for their sports package, all 64 matches live in 10 channels, 5 in SD and 5 in HD, call now! All advertisements you see or hear, will somehow be related to World Cup. At night, time for supper. Here you are at the mamak store and everyone is watching football on large screens.

The fact here is, whether you are a football fan or not, World Cup (=football) is already part and parcel of your life for this whole month at least. For those who really hates football and don't want even to try to watch the World Cup, it is definitely haunting you, an 'endangered species' they so called. You are like being left out from the world. The interesting is, no matter which corner of the globe you may be, football will still be there. Maybe in the native settlements you are free from football, but don't be surprise if it's not the case! This is globalization!

For those who don't craze for the World Cup, the world is yours! (is it?) When you go for shopping or are on the road at hours like 7.00 pm, the crowd and the traffic will be distinctively less. They have all left for home and catching the football matches by that time. So, finally, no jams, no massive crowds, how nice!

The World Cup is seen as a worldwide event that must not be missed. It is more of like getting into the fun with your friends and family that the world is enjoying rather than knowing who wins who lost. Try catching a match with your friends or close ones one of these days and you may start to enjoy watching football! I don't watch football normally, but World Cup, yes. While writing this, I'm waiting to watch the match between Brazil and South Korea. Nevertheless, it is also important that our health and wealth is maintained. Don't get over excited which results you in a cardiac arrest; don't lose your money by gambling. The world may seem to be everything about football for this one month, but you have to be realistic.

If you an 'endangered species', don't worry and don't be sad. It is not as bad as it sounds, things can still move on like how they were before and the World Cup.

Train That Never Stops

2010-06-12T11:39:00.005+08:00

A brilliant new Chinese train innovation - get on & off the bullet train without the train stopping. VERY COOL CONCEPT !

No time is wasted. The bullet train is moving all the time. If there are 30 stations between Beijing and Guangzhou , just stopping and accelerating again at each station will waste both energy and time.

A mere 5 min stop per station (elderly passengers cannot be hurried) will result in a total loss of 5 min x 30 stations or 2.5 hours of train journey time!
The passenger at a station embarks onto to a connector cabin way before the train even arrives at the station. When the train arrives, it will not stop at all. It just slows down to pick up the connector cabin which will move with the train on the roof of the train.

While the train is still moving away from the station, those passengers will board the train from the connector cabin mounted on the train's roof. After fully unloading all its passengers, the cabin connector cabin will be moved to the back of the train so that the next batch of outgoing passengers who want to alight at the next station will board the connector cabin at the rear of the train roof.

When the train arrives at the next station, it will simply drop the whole connector cabin at the station itself and leave it behind at the station. The outgoing passengers can take their own time to disembark at the station while the train had already left. At the same time, the train will pick up the incoming embarking passengers on another connector cabin in the front part of the train's roof. So the train will always drop one connector cabin at the rear of its roof and pick up a new connector cabin in the front part of the train's roof at each station.

Best 5 Sentences You 'll Ever Read

2010-06-11T17:16:00.001+08:00

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation.

5. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.

Latest Trick to Rob Your House

2010-05-21T19:42:00.001+08:00

Someone sent me this, would like to share it with you guys:

.........wish to share an experience with you which happened yesterday.

At about 1.30pm yesterday, we had someone ringing our doorbell .My
daughter checked and found that it was a young Malay guy wearing a
BLUE TM Shirt with the words printed TM Contractor in front and the
back of the shirt TM. He informed us that our phone line was out
together with our Steamyx. She went in to check and found it was true
and informed me that the guy wanted to check the cables in the house.
I tied up my Dog and let him in carying a small bag. He was shown all
the phones in the house ie my room,daughter' s room and hall. When he
was in my daughter's room, he asked me to go to my room to check the
phone for a dialling tone, and when he was in my room, I was asked to
go to the hall to do the same. He was in our house for a good twenty
minutes and after that he told me that he has to go outside to check
the cable. After looking at the cable outside, he said he will be back
to change the cables outside which was supposed to be the main
problem. In a jiff he was off on his motorbike and sped off.
I had a strong feeling that something was not right. I asked my
daughter to check her room to see if he left something behind and to
my surprise I was told that her handphone was missing. I ran to my
room to check and found my handphone and wallet still intack, BUT
checking further my GOLD chain was missing (worth about RM3,000.00)
So my friends, please be more alert and make sure that this do not
happen to you as nowdays things that you under estimate happens.
By the way TM personel came this morning and they confirm that two
wires have been dismantled from the TM box outside my house.

Mother Trucker

2010-04-30T20:42:00.005+08:00

Did my title shocked you a little? Haha.

I was shocked when I saw this advertisement on the newspaper: "Meet the Mother Trucker" by Nissan advertising their new pickup truck Navara. At first glance it looked like "Mother F...." The first thing that came through my mind is how could such phrase appear in newspapers, especially in Malaysia? After having a good read about the ad, only I noticed that it was a mere deception.

So, while I was 'googling' for the advertisement, I found out that the definition of 'mother trucker' by urbandictionary.com is 'another way of saying mother f..' Well, that is not much of a surprise. Even by mentioning it, it is easy to be misinterpreted.

In one way, this advertisement has succeeded in attracting readers to read their ad. However, I feel that being Nissan, isn't there a better way to gain publicity? I would prefer a more pleasant approach.

Grammar 'Mistook' Ads

2010-03-12T17:18:00.014+08:00

Look at the advertisement above. It is the advertisement by the Malaysian Cooperation Commission which comes under the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Consumer Affairs and Co-operatives. It is an advertisement on a launching ceremony by our Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yahsin.

In order to make things clearer, here's the excerpt of the advertisement that was published on the New Straits Time:

Koperasi Dagang Seni Malaysia Berhad (KDSM) help single mothers to be independent

Single mother and housewife who had to suppod family are those who sometimes being neglected as they normally do not like to ask help from people or government to ease their struggle in life.

Spirit of these groups are usually very though, they willing to do various jobs and small business to that they have income to feed and support the children.

In order to help them to generate income with the skills that they have, Koperasi Dagang Seni Malaysia Berhad (KDSM) has been established several activities primarily focused on this groups.

KDSM Chairman, Fully Goet Chye Lee, 43, said although still this cooperative still young because it only established in February last year, it has been successful helping single mothers and housewife to improve their own standard of living for their families.

In the meantime, he said, there are now many housewife experiencing pressure of life because their husband cannot generate enough income to cover all the expenses for family.

Hence, he has worked with the Association of Art Creative Sewing (PSJK) to encourage single mothers and housewife sewing hobby as a skills for them to work from home.

Consequently, Goet Lee also said that, KDSM serves as a central channel for providing a place to exhibit works of sewing art and help this people bay finding business opportunities in the country.

"I feel happy when I look at the products and customers like it. This will allow single mothers and housewives to generate good income by themselves," he said.

Goet Lee said, at first, he established the Persatuan Latihan Kraftangan Epal (EPAL) in 2001 and he organized art classes for free such as stitch which aims to teach its members to use sewing machines after they bought the machine.

This is because he wanted to ensure that its members well-versed on the function of the sewing machine so it can be used for their own benefit and not wasted.

However I find most of our members have a limited budget because they cannot afford to buy basic materials for sewing classes although the training is provide for free of charge.

In the process of helping to find a markets for this single mother and housewives, Lee Goet realize that the association has a limited limited resources because its not a business based. From that, he strives to establish KDSM. Clearly, in an effort to promote the concept of business at home to help those unfortunate peoples to become independent, Goet Lee has suffered losses of RM 1.5 million between 2001 to 2005 in the association, but he said, he continued to assert beliefs because it is a trust to help the less fortunate.

Goet why Lee said, he continue the effort even facing a lot difficulties and regardless of the losses because of his childhood experience where he was raised by his mother alone.

"My mother raising five siblings alone by doing some part-time work to support a large family," he said.

"Hence, this led to bitterness childhood. I must try my best to help single mothers and housewives to ease their burden and their families," he said.

Now, KDSM has a showroom in Bandar Puteri Puchong to enable those who involved to exhibit and sell their sewing products.

Goet Lee said, he felt worthwhile exercise this social responsibility is to help single mothers and housewives so that they have more time with their children and the tragic life which has happen to him will not repeated.

More than half of the advertisement is either typing error or grammar mistakes. I can understand if it's wrong usage of terms, grammar mistakes or any other things related to grammar. What about the typing errors? Suppod, bay.... Don't their computers have Spell Check? While I am typing this article, I am already having many zig-zag lines under the wrong words. Still, whether it is grammar mistake or typing error, no matter what, they should be someone proof reading it. What make me laughed was the change in name of the chairman of KDSM. It changed 4 times, from Fully Goet Chye Lee (correct me if I'm wrong) to Goet Lee, Lee Goet, and later Goet why Lee. It is already an insult to some people for spelling their names wrongly, what about this? His name was changed four times!

It is learned that this advertisement cost the government RM 225 million on advertising from January to September last year. After spending RM 225 million, this was what it was all about? How could the relevant departments or ministries approved this? Are they going to spent another RM 225 million again to justify their mistakes? What a disgrace to the people. We all are well known for our 'Manglish', broken English, grammar mistakes, etc. Yes we are. But, we are not so poor to the extent that we could not spot such blatant mistakes.

From a few mistakes, it can be assumed that this advertisement is a direct translation from Chinese. For example, 'pressure of life' in Chinese it is '生活的压力'; 'those who involved' '那些涉及'.

This should be taken as a message that our standard of English still has room for improvement. No one here is saying that their English is perfect, including me. I believe that there has already been a few grammar mistakes here and there. It is the approval of the government for this advertisement that makes all of us think "What in the world is the government doing?'

Let me suggest this, spend a maximum of RM 1000 to get someone to proof read and check through everything before publishing them. It is an easy job. Ta da, the problem solved! :P What do you think? Am I being too optimistic or sarcastic?

Drinking Cold Water Causes Cancer?

2010-02-19T22:10:00.005+08:00

“The Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals, not cold water, maybe it is time we adopted their drinking habit while eating.

It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this ’sludge’ reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.”

Cold Water = CANCER Drinking cold water after meal = Cancer! (this is not a joke) For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this "sludge" reacted with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.
Above are few excerpts from emails being circulated on the risk of drinking cold water during or after food. According to these excerpts, drinking cold water during or after meals imposes a risk to our health - cancer. In fact, many people believed in this. It sounds logical and scientific. The cold water solidifies the oily food and is accumulated in the body....... then causes cancer. We, especially the Chinese always like to eat hot food (趁烧吃) with hot soup. Everything hot. And every time I burnt my tongue eating hot food. People believed that hot food also helps in complexion. You will not look so 'cold', etc. I personally don't believe in such things which I sometimes find them very annoying. Maybe this is the traditional thinking, I don't know.

We learned Biology and we know that our body will regulate the body temperature to the optimum condition through homeostasis. Furthermore, during digestion, the stomach produces digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid to create an ideal condition for digestion.

In fact, study showed that drinking cold water is good, especially after vigorous exercise. Cold water is absorbed by the body more quickly than warm water and can help lower one's body temperature, preventing dehydration. It is also the high temperature that we use in wok cooking that causes increase in lung cancers among Asian women. The high temperature causes the oil to break down, giving off chemicals that cause cells to mutate.

The fact is, drinking cold water during or after meal will not cause cancer.

So next time, check the facts before believing in something. We may be doing the right thing all this while after all.

Sixteen Turned Seventeen

2010-02-19T18:18:00.005+08:00

This morning, went to Mandarin Oriental for dim sum. The food was okay but wasn't like before. The service was definitely lousy. It took so long for the food to be served. My dad said that it was something like French style of eating, where you eat little by little and don't get too full. So in a way, you won't be fat. They kept on insisting that they were many customers today, but when I looked around, they weren't that many. The customer of the table behind us left some time ago, but the table still wasn't clear when we finished, really brought down their image lar. All of us didn't enjoy our meal. (I preferred the previous time we came)Well, looking at things, eating out during Chinese New Year wasn't a very wise choice (but it's already the sixth day of CNY!)

Enough of complaining. Turning seventeen means a lot to me, besides that my age is being added by 'one':

I will be sitting for my SPM this year.
I will be eligible to drive.
I need to make important decisions on the courses I am going to study.
I will be graduating from school.
More time on studies, less for play.
Meeting my close cousin that has migrated to Australia.
Had a baby cousin with the same birthday as mine!

Happy Birthday! :P

Multicultural and Malaysia

2010-02-18T21:03:00.007+08:00

I used to think that Malaysia is one of the few countries in the world that is multicultural. I was always been drilled with the mindset that all races in Malaysia live together in peace and harmony. Frankly, I was proud when I heard this.

As time passed, I realized that how little I knew about 'multicultural' and I had the wrong perception. Malaysia is not only the country that has people of multiracial living together in peace. Just take a look at our neighboring countries, down south, Singapore is also a multicultural country, same applies to Indonesia, Philippines, India and many more. In fact, Philippines is the 8th most multiethnic country in the world. United Kingdom is also a multiethnic country, which comprises of mainly people from Pakistan, India and Somalia. Maybe what makes us, Malaysia different from UK and Australia is that our multicultural background was due to the British colonization and their policy in bringing in laborers to work in various sectors. In UK and Australia, their multiethnic society is due to emigration of foreigners, seeking for a better life abroad. Well, come to think of it, both of these examples are emigration. One, was 50 years ago while the other I believed happened later and is still an ongoing process.We like to boast how harmonious the various ethnics in Malaysia live happily together. This is always very common in the 'Cuti-cuti Malaysia' and 'Malaysia Truly Asia' advertisements. If Malaysia wants to compete in the number of ethnics groups, we are definitely out. Just look at China, there are so many ethnic groups! Talking about living together harmoniously, it depends on how you look at it. Generally, there are no armed conflicts in Malaysia, unlike countries like Russia. In this manner, we are definitely living peacefully. However, things are totally different if we just take a look at what is happening in our daily lives. Matters are becoming worse with incidents such as: the use of the word 'Allah', arson attacks on places of worships and the throwing of boar heads into mosque compounds. We have already a few incidents whereby politicians are calling other races, specifically Chinese and Indians sensitive names. Ironically, one of them happened during a 1Malaysia function! Do we say that we are living together peacefully? We are not walking the talk. Obviously, 1Malaysia concept is not being practiced.

The younger generation like us may faced less of such problems in the future. This is based on the assumption that the younger generation is more exposed to the outside world, thanks to the internet and they think more maturely. But, I don't know. It is hard to tell. Time will only tell.

In any application forms, be it from the public or private sector, there is always this column asking for our race. Is this important? Why can't all of us be identified as Malaysians? Have any of you tried filling in 'MALAYSIAN'?

After 50 years of independence, have Malaysians become more united, or are we slowly breaking apart. It is important that we address this problem. We must be aware that we will LOSE OUT and in fact we are LOSING OUT to many countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia in competitiveness. CHANGE in people's thinking is a must. If we are still focusing on unity even after 50 years, with the implementation of Wawasan 2020 or 1Malaysia, there is a serious problem somewhere. I'm not saying that we should not focus on creating national unity, but we have to really start thinking of how can we achieve advancement for the betterment of MALAYSIANS.

Beijing, We Have A Problem

2010-01-19T14:59:00.002+08:00

It's interesting that the building itself is stronger than the foundation

Arson Attacks on Churches

2010-01-08T17:17:00.007+08:00

Fire and Rescue Department personnel at the Metro Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawati on Friday.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan earlier said police were investigating three cases of arson at churches in the Klang Valley early Friday morning.

The three churches were the Metro Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawati, the Assumption Church in Jalan Templer, Petaling Jaya, and the Life Chapel Church in Section 17, also in Petaling Jaya.

"Police personnel would also patrol churches throughout the country, especially in the Klang Valley, to prevent any untoward incidents," he added on Friday.

Police officers conducting investigations at the Life Chapel Church in Section 17, PJ on Friday.

Musa also reiterated his stern warning to anyone planning to stage protest rallies Friday against the use of the word "Allah" by non-Muslims.

"We will not hesitate to take stern action against them," he told The Star.

Wong Sai Weng, spokesman for the Life Chapel church in Section 17 here, said, "We found a molotov cocktail at the porch at 8.30am.

"We see this as attempted arson, and have lodged a police report," he said.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin is among the public figures, who visited the Tabernacle Church on Friday.

Police officers collecting evidence at the Assumption Church in PJ on Friday.

At 12.30am Friday, the Metro Tabernacle Church was damaged after a group of youths threw flammable materials into the ground floor of the church located in a shoplot.

No one was injured in the incident as the church was empty at that time.

It was believed the incident happened after a group of youths on motorcycles rode up to the church, smashed the glass panels on the ground floor of the three-storey building and later threw some materials into the building that started a fire.

Church lay leader Peter Yeow, 62, said witnesses were not near enough to get a closer look at the youths who sped away after the act.

The witnesses then called the police as well as the Fire and Rescue Department, which arrived within minutes and doused the fire.

City CID chief SAC II Datuk Ku Chin Wah confirmed the incident.

Parishioners helping to salvage computer equipment from the Metro Tabernacle Church on Friday.

It is believed that a molotov cocktail was thrown into the church.

SAC Ku said the police were investigating the incident from all angles.

Kuala Lumpur police Chief Datuk Mohamad Sabtu Osman told The Associated Press that a witness saw four people on two motorcycles breaking the glass front of the church and throwing an incendiary object inside before fleeing.

He said police found a wrench, an empty gasoline can and two scorched motorcycle helmets at the scene. The church occupies a corner plot in a row of shops in Desa Melawati, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur.

"We are still investigating," he said. He also urged Muslims not to participate in the planned protests, AP reported.

Obtained from The Star Online

Dried Cuttlefish Contaminated with Cadmium

2009-10-07T08:26:00.002+08:00

The Consumer Association of Penang (CAP) which was well known for its active role in carrying out tests on consumer products and constantly ‘memelihara hak pengguna’ has came out with another shocking finding, i.e. dried cuttlefish are contaminated with cadmium.

CAP president S.M. Mohamed Idris said random tests conducted on samples of cuttlefish found that the amount of cadmium exceeded the safety level.

Cadmium is used in galvanizing and electroplating in batteries, in electrical conductors, in the manufacture of alloys, pigments and plastics, and in the stabilization of phosphate fertilizers.

It is also a prevalent environmental contaminant due to its release from metal smelters.

It had been suggested that exposure to cadmium and other such “metalloestrogens” could result in an increased rate of breast and prostate cancer.

In general, exposure to cadmium occurs primarily through food, cigarette smoking and sometimes drinking water.

Occurrence in food comes through atmospheric deposition of the airborne cadmium, mining activities and the application of cadmium-containing fertilizers and sewage sludge on farm land.

This has an adverse effect on specific organs in the human body, and its absorption is intensified by dietary deficiencies of calcium and iron.

Most of the body’s burden of cadmium is retained in the liver and kidneys, and in Japan kidney failure has been observed in individuals whose food and water are affected by high levels of cadmium.

Mohamed Idris noted that kidney failure is on the rise in Malaysia, adding that presently there were 13,000 kidney patients undergoing dialysis and every year 2,500 people are at end-stage renal failure.

However, the Penang Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia does not agree with the finding made by CAP. Its director Raja Khalid Raja Ariffin said the cuttlefish was dried under the sun and the salt was not used. “So where does the cadmium come from?”

The Kuala Kedah Fishermen Association also said that local dried cuttlefish did not contain any additives and is safe to be consumed.

~Obtained and edited from the Star Online~

Archimedes' Principle

2009-09-23T21:04:00.005+08:00

The density of the immersed object relative to the density of the fluid can be easily calculated without measuring any volumes:

Where's The Fog?

2009-08-20T19:22:00.004+08:00

Every time when we see people fogging around our housing estate, the first thing that comes to our mind is "Oh, another dengue case." Such fogging after a dengue case has happened is considered a bit too late, but better than nothing, as we like to say. I was infected with the dengue fever and despite being discharged for three days, no one has come to fog at my area. While we hear that there have been fogging and checks conducted at other areas nearby. We made a call to complaint on the matter and they say that they will follow up, but until now, still no fogging has been done. Fogging is more of a preventive step to curb dengue fever. Maintaining the cleanliness of the surroundings should be made a priority by the people themselves plus the authority. The authority has been promoting dengue-free environment asking people to be more alert and vigilant about dengue. 'Cegahlah Denggi' posters can be seen at strategic locations together with the H1N1 posters. All these are useless if the authorities are not doing anything even after there has been a confirmed dengue case.

Why Malay? Not English?

2009-07-11T07:40:00.002+08:00

After much debate over the teaching of science and mathematics in English, finally the government came out with a brilliant idea - to revert the system back to mother-tongue in primary schools and Malay in secondary schools effective year 2012. Having said that, students will be facing much more trouble in coping with these changes again. Currently, primary school students are learning both science and math in bilingual, English and their mother-tongue. And secondary school students learning these two subjects solely in English.

With the new system implemented, the changes of the subject language will be Malay/Chinese/Tamil (primary) > Malay (secondary) > English (Form 6). Such changes will surely affect the students in their learning. Here is an example from a newspaper. Nicholas is in Form 1 this year (2009). These are the changes in language he will face.

Year	Form	Language
2009	1	English
2012	4	Malay
2014	6	English

The problem here is not so much on how the student can cope with the changes. It is more on why should we change from English to Malay? It's alright if the primary schools switch back to their own mother-tongue. But why in secondary school? Starting form 4, the three science subjects, ie Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Additional Mathematics will be introduced. These subjects are very crucial for students as they will be learning them too in more detail when they enter college or university, which of course will be taught in English. Furthermore, English is the international language especially in the science field. Just like the SI units (Système international d'unités) is a standard unit measurement system, English is also the standard language for Science.

One of the reasons for the change is to strengthen the national language, Malay. I doubt it. To improve one's language, it should be done during language class, not through science or math. Although we can't deny the fact that we do learn some new scientific and math terms in Malay, they are still only terms. In language we focus more on constructing good sentences; learning grammar, or in this case, tatabahasa; literature components and many more which is quite impossible to learn from the science and math subjects. Furthermore, in science and math, they look for the keywords in your answers, not really on your grammar. So, how can we improve the language?

Switching the teaching of science and math in English to Malay is really weakening the students, making them incompetent and weaker in the subjects. If the authorities take the reason of low performance as why they switch from English to Malay, it will be unfair. Boost the students English instead, not running away from the problem. On the other hand, if they want to 'martabatkan' Malay, go on, but through language classes.

Math Time

2009-07-07T22:21:00.002+08:00

Don't have a calculator? Or you feel that you have not think for some time? Try this. Interesting.

Are we confused?

2009-07-06T23:06:00.002+08:00

Recently there was this issue on converting the term "H1N1" to "pig flu" by the authority to avoid confusion among people, especially the ones in rural areas. They came up with this idea just because 'H1N1' was pronounced as "HINI', "H satu N satu" by certain parties.... Quickly, our minister immediately opposed the idea as "H1N1' is the international term by WHO used to address this pandemic. Ironically, in the circular by the ministry to all schools regarding this pandemic (check your class notice board), the term "selesema babi/khinzir was used! Haha.. So, are the people actually confused? Or are the authorities themselves confused? The term used is not that important, what is more important is that people are ready to face this influenza. Wash their hands frequently, stay away from crowded places, wear masks if necessary etc. Will the change in term help to improve the situation, to reduce the number of infected cases? Definitely no, we are still seeing the number of infected people increasing day by day.