FUN TO LEARN LANGUAGES

I talked to my former students who went to Korea to study after passing out from Vocational Secondary School about learning and using foreign language. I reminded him to always speak Korean with somebody to make sure he won't forget it. I also asked him to teach his kids. My other friend who married a Japanese girl had a little girl who could converse Japanese, English and Malay at her tender age. Most gainers are the Malaysian Chinese who could speak at least 3 languages. In Australia the English kids are learning Mandarin too.

In 1980 I had wanted to introduce Mandarin in my school. I had a hard time with my boss in Kuala Lumpur who asked me to find my own fund. I asked someone to contact with MCA for Mandarin teachers. Also failed. I did not try PIBG for fear of negative retaliation. And my project failed.

Kindergarten is one of the best places to teach multiple languages but with the government interference in the pre-school setup, I doubt whether it can be carried out. At this juncture things seem to be getting worst as the government is talking about it getting bankruptcy. May be the money better be spent on a thousand dollar project which costs 1 million dollar. Or on foreign consultation firms or given to some people like the 52 billion PKZ. 

If you have your own money, it is good to send your kids to learn foreign languages or several of the Malaysian languages. Right now there are people doing this. At the same time there are people who are anti foreign languages or even local languages other than Malay.

Amateur radio is one of the best flat form to practice English. For many years the exam was run in English to fit the international hobby but at the same time it is a good venue to express ourselves freely.

Other than the hobby children should be encourage to speak other languages during their school days, both in and out of school. Adults should not be too narrow minded in condemning those speakers. Such a distasteful behavior should not be condoned.

I would like to urge the government to open back the English medium school starting with one in each district and see the response of the parents. I can bet the demand will exceed the supply. I believe the English medium students will be more marketable.

NOTHING GOOD AT ALL ?

Political leaders especially are under usually under the barrages of fire. The attacks would be continuous, vicious and venomous. There is nothing good at all done by the victim. Are the victims absolutely useless and evil ?

A person's image could be completely tarnished once he is found to rob money from the public funds or giving money to get a favor. Whatever good work follows are seen as effort to erase the crimes in the eyes of the public. Hence no amount of work is deemed honest and sincere.

For a normal man who does not inflict any form of pain on other people certainly there could be both in him, the good and the bad or more good than bad or even totally good and likable. A government officer who is strict in his work may be facing problem of being attacked but there are people who like his job.

I sometime wonder why a certain political leader is being attacked all the time though there is no proof that he is corrupt or trying to do any mischievous thing on the people. Just because he is a DAP, UMNO or PAS we can brand him a complete goon and evil.

At time it is good for us to look at the background of the attacker himself. Public should be aware of people who complaint and speak too much. Many people have bitter experience with these type of people when they were elected to manage a body after their fiery bombardment on the previous board. They turned out to be worst and many absconded with a huge sum of money.

Basically a good person bears responsibility, accountable, fair, honest and sincere in his work. Responsiveness is not the criteria.

At one time a Communist was a scary word with full of evil. Today Osama is the word seems to bring fear among the Americans. How bad was the Communist and how bad is Osama ? How many people are killed by Osama and a Communist ? Thru media and repeated enforcement people were made to believe at even a non-existing thing.

What has a person do to us and the others to make him so bad ? Has he committed any crime or abetting any criminal ? Has he been a liar; bluffing and cheating everyone ? Yet many call him a good for nothing guy. Is there nothing good at all in him ?

Mankind is easily carried. Opportunist provokes emotion and happy to throw stones.

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WHO WANT TO BE PRIME MINISTER ?

Everybody has the right to think or has a desire to be a Prime Minister. A Minister has never been a divine post like the Kings. So every Tom, Dick and Harry can be a Prime Minister. If he is he will be just like any others and the country will run as usual. He just needs only a good advisor who will teach him the arts of politics. So you can start thinking big and don't worry even if you are a hawker or a hardcore labor.

Almost everyone has in mind what to do if he becomes one. In some countries a Prime Minister must know how to talk and talk well enough to convince the people. One of the great speaker was President Sukarno. People just love to hear him talking. A good speaker can turn a lie into a truth, the truth into a belief. 

The Prime Minister must be popular. The popularity depends on many factors. Good talker is one of them. Handsome face is another. Actor politicians can easily climb up to the highest post as has been shown by some countries.

Once you decide to think to be a Prime Minister, you must also think whether you want to do services to the people only or to  yourself or to both. Both has two faces ; 80 percent to the people and 20 to yourself and friends, or 20 percent to the people and the rest to yourself. Either take some and give some or take many and give some.

Once you are there it is not easy for people to bring you down  because you have the control over almost all things. The strongest are the media, the police, the special body to curb your enemy, the money and the judiciary. You reward those who side you and punish those are against you. 

Now you have said ,"Yes I want to be a Prime Minister." How do you go about ? Join UMNO ? You never can become one because Mukhriz is there waiting, Khairy is there and many other UMNO guys before you. You want to join PKR ? Lim Kit Siang is there waiting. Lim Guan Eng is there. Nur Izza is there. You want to topple the government ? You are just like the Don Quixote.  Then you have to go bak goreng mee and dig holes.

But everyone has the right to have a desire and to think one. You just can't blame anyone and degrade anyone having the intent. And we can't criticize him too. Even right now you can go around and introduce yourself as a Prime Minister. Can a law accuse you as impostor ? If you are scared then introduce yourself as the NEXT Prime Minister. Then you are safe.

If there are millions thinking 'if I am a Prime Minister, I will do this for a change....' that thought is really dangerous because it indicates the unpopular current government. As the days gone by the number grows. And if it lies deep down in the heart and not shown in media or by voice then the future of the nation is unknown. Hence the more pertinent question is 'if you are a Prime Minister what will you do ?'

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YOUNG MANAGER

Management is not a bulldoze process. It is neither a think and do experiment. It is a complex task that needs historical knowledge of past managing successes and failures, the understanding of human being, knowledge of the work, able to weigh the cause and effect and aware what is going on in other organizations.

There have been habits of new managers to view the previous procedures and structures as bad. And they would start to implement their own thinking. A young manager tend to think his is the best.

Managing is not to get popularity, or recognition or making enemies with the subordinates and the clients. It is to achieve the goal set by the organization. The setup of the goal itself must be meaningful and would not result in the side effect. Some managers set the goal together with their subordinates. 

In the current 21st Century we still see the autocratic style of management. Problems are solved by amputation not by participative decision from the workers. Hence there is no feeling of the ownership and kinship. And many organizations do not achieve their goals.

Autocratic style could bring achievement but the workers would leave the organization once they get the job else where. At all time they are thinking of leaving the job, cursing the boss and would leak information.

Some managers are good at talking, highly educated but fail to deliver. Unknowingly they repeated the past mistakes which they are not aware off. I am sorry to say that I see Idris Jala is a failed manager who solved the problem by amputation, not wanting to learn from China or Singapore how they manage their system. I hope I get the info right about his sacking people. MAS was better of under Dato' Aziz.

I believe that Managers should know that MONEY IS DECISION MAKING and must be able to compute the input-output ration effectively and quickly to ensure there will not be the continuous high input over the output. 

Young managers are bright and creative but not all can deliver well. The success of one does guarantee the other young guys could be effective and successful. Beside luck they have to have wide understanding of the environment around them.

I have across 7 young engineers who failed in running schools under them with low passing rates and with monumental human problems. One resigned to become a full time engineer. Others were move to manage higher institutions where there is no national examination.

I learned that many people are good in their job but do not understand human behavior and what human being can do. They tend to make wrong and devastating decisions.

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Playing ham radio without Morse is like marrying a beautiful girl without sex.

The other night I monitored FISTS NET on CW. There were three Japanese stations and one from Singapore were chatting on CW. Because of the reasonable speed I was able to copy them comfortably. The Japanese stations were JK8UST, JE1RZR and JE3HPM ( my ink did not show the call signs clearly ) and the Singapore station 9V1VV was very familiar to me and I can remember it even without jotting it down. 

As usual I would relax on my old office chair, closing down my eyes and enjoyed the story. The Japanese are very fluent in English and simply punched the keys like nobody's business. They could have gone to SSB for the chat. Probably they wanted to exercise their fingers and save their voices.

The FISTS net is the second rag chew net. The first is the Indonesian CW net run on Indonesian language. It is also good for beginners to learn and do listening exercise.

You always remember in the good old days when you talk of ham radio, it has always been associated to Morse code. Without it there is something missing. Fun to send and fun to decipher.

A BIT ON I-PHONE
My God an I-Phone only cost US299 plus package in USA and Malaysian vendors like Maxis is making tons of profit on it. The government is not protecting the customers but is helping the tycoon in making them richer. The new I-Phone is coming up with a more advance OS and would enabled video conferencing. I can bet in USA the ham radio will eventually decline and disappear the fastest because of the cheap contract rate.

Even laptops sale will decline soon. Most who do not own blog or write web page will be just satisfied with the I-Phone. The killing of CW by the FCC could not help radio sale much. The radio vendors should shift to selling the I-Phone the quickest to accumulate as much money as possible within the short period.

We need to learn something about the locking and unlocking system if we are thinking of buying cheaper I-Phones out of the country. Unless the government allows competition or put some control on the $current monopoly else we have to be a little patient. 

With the Skype on we can do the DX video chat on a long distance friends.

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IS CELCOM SHIT ?

We have hated Streamyx very much because of it's slowness and many people were hopping out for something else. You would face hell officers asking you hell questions and giving us pictures Steamyx employed some stupid and unqualified staffs. Then I chose Celcom and purchased the Celcom broadband, the RM99 package.

A few days ago I decided to divorced the popular Windows and opted for Ubuntu. Ubuntu has been here for many years and Linux was in Malaysia even far before 2000. Dr Mahathir even ordered the government departments to use Linux for some reason. And Ubuntu started with the basic and now has grown to version 10. As it is known that expert of C will be good in writing Linux too. And even now I have decided to  migrate from VB to C so that I can developed software for Linux.

When I talked to Celcom officers from the ground up to the so-called computer engineers in the HQ almost all replied that Linux is new and Ubuntu is new and Celcom hardware does not support Linux. And a few had never heard the word Ubuntu.

Calling them is hell. Even after telling them that you are using Ubuntu the officers kept on repeating MAC as if they do not know that Linux and Mac are two different things. 2 particular officers whom I beleive were engineers told me Huawei 1550 do not support Linux. Then I asked which one support it if the 1550 does not ? "we are not trained in that, the sale section know it.."

Now Celcom is kicking us around. And even allowed us to wait on the phone for 20 or 30 minutes without replying.

Once someone told me about the purchase of certificate and universities giving free marks to the students especially the private institutions. And I compared them with a few computer science graduates who can't even developed programs for schools. And wonder what quality of people are being employed by the Celcom and Streamyx.

There was one lady by the name of Suria in Celcom HQ was trying her best to guide me thru. I did not complete the learning because I went to Jakarta. I came back and installed a modem by giving the sudo apt-get install modemu. I still cannot connect to remote network. And when I tried to call 1-300-111-000 I got the hell of worst encounter.

Celcom engineers should know C and should be able to write connection code for Linux and should keep up to date with IT development and keep phase with hardware progress rather than act haughtily and giving ridiculous answer to customers. If they are from some useless universities and have too little knowledge, they should cope up with knowledge and don't allow themselves to be fools when customers are seeking assistance. If they just know Windows, then there is no need to have engineers there. Probably a form 3 students can do their work.

If I were to know their universities certainly I would have written to their universities about the type of students they produce.

The nation is teaching Linux in school now. People are moving into it. Celcom should see that it must accommodate other OS too. If a Primary school leader says he does not know we can accept it but when the engineers say they don't know it and any method to write any communication code then I would say they should not be there  and go and look for other job. What more if a private agency can allow the customer to wait on the phone line for a very long time and could not with a good answer.

When question like this has come up, Celcom should quickly address the issue. I am sure it would not take weeks or moths to write the codes to connect Ubuntu to website.

I wonder how they impressed the board when they go for interview.

Update - reply to celcom

Dear Azizah,

I did call the number and talked to the officers. That made me narrate the bitter experience in http://9m2ar.com/view3.asp under the title Is Celcom Shit. I hope they will find some remedial and sort out technical problems rather than giving 'not support answer'. They are electronic/computer engineers and I expect them to be well verse in C language and able to write the dialing codes for Linux. Because Ubuntu is quite popular these days it is imperative for Celcome to write the network and dialing codes for the operating system.

Careline is not a unit to solve the windows based problem only. Today Windows are mastered even by lower form students. The former Prime Minister had commanded for the use of Linux and schools are teaching Linux now. Ubuntu is not a 2 or 3 year OS. When all the officers answer that it is a NEW operating system, I felt very offended and ashamed for the nation.

I have been encountering with several so-called graduates who did not show competency until I and many other believe these people are from the private or chau kia institutions. People have been moving away from Streamyx for the same reason; the attitudes. Not wanting to learn and solve problems is indeed a show of poor attutudes. If Celcom had said "Wait and give us time to resolve the linux issue" at least it is much better than giving excuses and kicking people around.

Celcom is just lucky that the Government protects the monopoly or forbid free competition. The result is bad and incompetent officers.

I think you can discuss the issue with your boss rather than readily decide to wage war on customers with all the strength and the backups. News start small like any fire. Inaction can make it grows.

To progress Celcom must move together with the improve technology. Even Ubuntu is always updating to accommodate the users like creating networks and other communication system. If the others move, do you think Celcom is happy with gathering money from the people to pay the workers with a big fat salary ?

Your officer, Suria, is a good lady. She tried her best to guide me. She took pain to look for Ubuntu 10. Though it was not successful at least she showed an admirable attitude. But from Alor Setar to HQ most provide me with identical answer "Not compatible"....Ubuntu is new". People like us would say "Then make it compatible.."

I hope Celcom will address the state of the arts issue.

Thank you.

Abdul Rahman.

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WHAT SHE WROTE

Halimatun SaadiahJune 16, 2010 at 3:41am
Subject: salam
cikgu sihat ke, sy dari ex-student smv juga tapi tahun 1987 -1988, kelas PPN, masih dlm ingatan bila cikgu marah kat kami penghuni asrama putri bila mlm but majlis nyanyian and after that sapa tak lulus apa2 subject semua kena rotan ikut jumpah pelajaran, tq cikgu kerana ambil berat pasal pelajaran kamai dulu, dah 22 tahun berlalu, tapi nama cikgu tetap dlm ingatan. tahun 1988 kalau tak salah tahun pertama peperiksaan SPM(V) diperkenalkan mengantikan SPVM dan kamilah generasi pertama kat sekolah tu yg mula di perkenalkan dengan komputer.
 

WHAT CAN I SAY ABOUT INDONESIAN TRIP ?

Had not been because of the Air Asia ground staffs who demanded RM50 for not having the departure card which was taken by the immigration, the hectic trip was somewhat fun. I followed the group from Sekolah Kebangsaan Padang Terap. Many of the teachers knew me. I could not be a naughty boy then. Most of the tour time was in the dark because of the long bus trip. We could not even see what were in the mini cultural village ( Taman Mini ). The whole story is found here.

What I like most was 'Nasi Padang' not the 'Nasi Sunda'. Hotel ? 4-4.5 star hotel.

Though hectic and tiresome traveling has more kick then ham radio nowadays. The excitement of ham radio starts to fade with the MCMC's policy and the incoming of bad attitudes ham operators.

I am looking for the next trip around December with or without a credit card. With a credit card I can move a little farther to various attractions. A week of travel will start with a week of dreaming and planning. Two to three weeks long distant vacation takes longer time to prepare and planning; the dress, the shoes, the bag, what to buy and see, financial management, the hotel and lodging, the food, the prayer and the contingency.

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A NEW WORLD

There wasn't any expectation that I will be involving in a new learning. The new learning is on Linux. To be precise - Ubuntu Linux. I have heard of Linux for more than  years ago and thought it is for the highly educated group and professionals like the engineers. I heard the word Ubuntu from YB6LD, Don, from Medan. Just before I left for Bandung, Malcom encouraged me to install Linux. And the good great friend, Saito, posted me a Linux CD.

Linux is a new world for me. I need to venture into it and learn the various commands bit by bit at my own phase and time. Internet will be my teachers. It is good because I can understand English. It will take a long time for sure. My Linux still could not go on the internet. I still need to make it recognize my broadb and USB stick and able to shake hand with the network. I have yet to look for sudo and git commands. I need to be very well verse with the terminal and much more.

Because My Ubuntu could not function with the Huawei E1550 USB modem, I had to go to my old school and an Old Town coffee shop to access the internet. As I do that I find there are too many new things ahead which will demand plenty of time. I remember the days when I learned Morse code on my own when there were no soft wares and no computers. It started almost the same way. And I can't imagine how am I going to learn and be proficient in C language. I need to translate most of my old homemade applications for Linux.

Now I am 63 and with full of diseases and sickness. How much time left do I have for this ? Each year moves very fast. A day pass with a split second. By the time I master 10 commands, there would be an increase of another 20. Without mental stamina and physical strength I will drop dead.

But that is an attitude that we have to adopt; the struggle in the quest for knowledge not just to ignore things that we can't or beg for whatever things we don't have.

Anyhow if someone offers to assist me in teaching and guiding me in Ubuntu, I would certainly welcome them. May be the learning period will not drag too long. My main concern right now is how to make my Linux hand shake with the internet. Do I have to hunt for Huawei E220 ? Do I need to find which provider sell post-paid broadband USB modem ? Or will the USB-switch command work ?

Radin Lokman,9M2GJ, at 86 is still learning computing and happily using the readily made soft wares with ease. One of the hams operators said to me that old hams like Eshee and Lokman are senile ( nyanyuk ) and can learn nothing anymore. Interestingly enough I noticed he himself was 'nyanyuk' on the radio when passing overs during communication time.

If the old people can, we don't see any reason why the younger people can't. Things lie solely in the attitudes. Yet there people who ridiculed my belief. But as I always say that everyone is entitled to his own belief.

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HOORAH MY UBUNTU RUN

My internet search on Celcom broadband with Ubuntu 10.04 using Huawei E1550 almost failes. Somehow I tumbled on a topic called USB-Modeswitch which described some of the Huaweis connecting to the internet. But it never mentioned Huawei E1550. Celcom officials said it was compatible and does not support Ubuntu. I have had a bitter exchanges with officers from Celcom HQ. But I kept on looking.

Today I decided to go to Maxis (22/06/2010). The lady briefed me on broadband package. In my heart I said these people have nothing in mind but try to squeeze from the general public as much as they can. I cut short and asked whether any of those support Linux Ubuntu. She called another lady who told me 'NO. We have tried but not successful."

In front of the Maxis office there is an Old Town. I went there for tea and at the same town using the wi-fi to run my Linux. I searched for usb-modeswitch and download the software. My battery was running out fast. Somehow I manage to look for the procedure of installation using the apt-get install stuff, run it and closed my laptop.

On reaching home, I run my Ubuntu and with great excitement my usb Huaweie1550 lighted up. My web browser run on Ubuntu. Now it opens a new frontier of knowledge which I will have to venture step by step.

Celcom broadband 3G does support Ubuntu. Read the letter I wrote to Celcom and until now they do not reply. And the Maxis too is having identical problem; the attitude problem Malaysian style.

Cont:

My next concern is to write soft wares which I can run with Ubuntu. People don't learn computer language in a day. I have yet really to find out which is the most suitable language for Linux and start to learn the basic. I have written many programs in Visual Basic and to let them go just like that would be a waste. The most important ones are those dealing with databases.

Someone developed a system that allows Linux to run Windows programs. But programs using access database gave a big problem and therefore I need to convert my mdb data into mysql and then run the windows exe program on Linux using the mysql. Again I have to be patient and careful to study how to open and destroy mysql database and how to make my program get access to it. If it is successful then I would be able to use many old programs with only a little work involve. Once all my plan work probably I would bid goodbye to windows forever.

My radio logbook, student and teacher's data all need to be changed into mysql.

Probably it will take 4 to 5 years before I can master Linux Ubuntu. I wish myself luck.

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24/06/2010 A Good Day

Today it is a good day for me. As soon as I woke up I immediately write a sample logbook to test on Linux using mdb database ie the old logbook database. I thought Linux would kill all my VB skill and I got to bid good bye to my all of my old programs. Anxious to run it, I only put in a few lines of codes, compiled and close it. Then I re-start my Ubuntu and run the logbook.

It run very well. So it looks like I have to wait venturing into C and would first try to convert all the other old programs for usage with Ubuntu. Though this is a new frontier for me, I can't divorce with the years of work I put in. I have to carry those into the new world.

At the same time I also have to convert the access to mysql to completely divorce from Windows. It is not that I hate Windows. You will eventually know why more and more of the world population switched to Linux. I think the American students know Linux very well because the other day I met a young Chinese boy while at Celcom office and he spoke with American slang while trying to explain how to connect the USB stick modem with Ubuntu. Malaysian education has just introduce Linux in the school curriculum.

Why am I so excited ? It is just like a blind man who finally able to see the world with only one eye with blurring image. How blurred the image he sees he would be very thankful to God. I have never thought I would be using any other operating system until I die. And secondly I still want and able to venture into new things despite my senile age. Similarly I dare to write in a language that my level of proficiency is extremely low.

The world is sometimes mysterious. There are periods when a string of unlucky stuffs came banging onto you. Your hard disk went kaput. Your radio gave you problem. Your girlfriend walked out of you. Your electricity bill shot up sky high. At other time a series of good stuffs came to accompany you.

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WHAT'S WRONG WITH UPSR AND PMR ?

What's wrong with UPSR and PMR ? I think the government must tell the people in detail what's wrong with both of the exam ? For your information even SPM is going to be scrapped and even now a large part of the grades are schooled base. People must be told of why for many centuries we have the examination systems and later we decided to abandon them ?

It is true that examinations are hindrance to some people. Sons and daughters of many high profile people did not perform well. There are too many straight A's students. Scholarships are based on meritocracy. Examinations can bring disgrace to many people because people tend to gauge the father by the kid's ability. A poor kid surely comes from a poor father, true or false.

Actually the problem of education does not lie with the examinations but the type of officers handling the education system. Many do not really address the issue of the students but focus more on promotion, salaries, showing off and simply ignore the aim of education. It has been many years that students are labeled as stupid, cannot be taught and school children are being separated for categorization. Teachers are unhappy to enter the last class. In fact the procedure of conveying and implanting knowledge on the last class should be more vigorous.

Teachers are happy giving tuition and get thousand of extra cash. Tuition is a lucrative trade. I know of one Headmaster who sell mee goreng at night instead of concentrating on the school and think of a way to enhance the institution. School principals are more keen to impress the people in the department rather than giving full attention on the student's welfare.

Knowing the number of illiterate students would be shocking for us. Finding out the number who can't read and recite a basic Koranic verses for the Muslims seem to be a very hard and hectic job. People just forget or don't want to do the dirty job. To find out why the students fail in the monthly test and to find a remedy is another hell. Not all schools take the paint of visiting the houses of the problem students.

If everyone in the line put a serious thought and list ways to ensure every student can write and read, able to add and multiply, understand what is being taught then we can say there is a truly student orientated education; not the promotion and re-numeration focused.

Today they are talking of science, arts, vocational and even an economic stream. Stream is the lesser degree of specialization. Parents prefer the stream which can guarantee jobs for their kids. Teachers are saying the kids are not interested in the stream. The government want to have 60 or higher percentage of students in science classes. At the school level the teachers are having a big head ache.

A simple test would not be able to stream the right course to the right students. Putting students who don't like mathematics in a Pure Science class could have a negative effect on the student. There had been effort to put these arts inclined kids into a Pure Science stream and finally no one can qualify to enter any university. And a school based exam is always bias.

The morality of many Malaysians are deteriorating. People hunt for even the secret SPM or SPTM public examination papers. Questions were known to leak and being sold. Even school base common examination papers did leak because of the missing of good values among many of us. And people who handle the work could not find the most effective ways either due to the low mental ability or simply did not to make things hard for themselves.

Because of the streaming there must be some sort of test or examination to know the aptitude of the students. But there must be a test. And whatever there must be a mechanism to trace the illiterate students and students who can't count numbers. For the Muslims it is imperative to gather those who can't read Koranic verses.

It looks like it has been typical for some policy makers to lower the standard of the Malaysians down whether in education or otherwise. You want to know the Malaysians look at the broken buildings and bridges, the billion ringgit corruptions, drug pushers escape hanging because of missing evidence, white collar robberies etc. It is called the lack of morality. That's not talking about the low quality, inefficient and  non-competitive people who become the Head of Departments or technical officers. Even our PM does not believe in the ability of the Malaysians to think and plan for the country.

Since we have been writing alot about Jewish's education, technical development and how they brought up their kids at least we can stop and think about it for a while.

In the meantime the government must tell the people what's wrong with UPSR and PMR.

Ps.

I read today's paper a little late and the headline display a big heading on foreign workers who are not paid for three months. These people are building the Istana Negara. Everybody seems to blame the sub-contractor. These are again the question of morality of the Malaysians. These kind of people will be the same wherever they are, in education or not. I mentioned particularly on officers because I have encountered with these kind of officers.

My question was who select the contractor ? The government must ask the body with whom the agreement was signed. The responsibility lies with the contractor not the sub-contractor and the people who select the bad contractor.

If you miss this argument, it means we all have lost the great old value of ours.

Education system must also be looked thru all other behaviors as the people involved are picked and selected by the government. I read about a few World Cup coaches who tendered their resignation for the failures. We all know pretty well it was the players who made errors.

Are we playing another blame game ?

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MY USA VISA EXPIRES AFTER I DIE

I already missed USA for 2 years. Last year I could not not make it to Dayton because of the credit card problem. Without it I can't rent a car.

Traveling alone to USA without car rental and following the tour group was fun but the movement was restricted. I don't remember the number of time I visited Hawaii. In Hawaii I don't have to rent one because the bus system would take you around the main island. For two different busses I could cover the whole island in two days.

Single traveling was to Los Angeles beside Hawaii. The first time was in 1970s where I stayed in my friend's house. Years after 1980 I would stay a little outside Los Angeles not too far away from Disneyland. I always stay at the same hotel owned by a Taiwanese, paying a weekly rate for 10 days. From the base I would take a bus each day traveling around the Orange county.

Going to the city of Los Angeles was about USD2.50 and took me about 1 hour. From there I would take a train to Universal City. Universal Studio is on a hill and no other Universal Studio in the world is alike this one.

Motels own by Mexican is a little cheaper but the one I stayed in was bigger and cleaner. I did not have any problem about food because in the hotel area there is an Indian Restaurant. The Briyani would cost me about USD12.00 but I could eat it 2 times with full stomach.

Had I got a car, I would have gone to wherever I could find a hamfest, and to Las Vegas.

So I have decided that with or without a credit card I will be going to the States again at least for 7 - 10 days. If my student wants to send her kids along I would go for 14 days so that the kids can enjoy the two theme parks at Disneyland, the Knot Berry Farm and probably 2 days of UniversalStudio. I even think to take the kids to Primary school for a walk around. If I were to go alone then I would follow the same old program. My visa expires in 2017 after I die.

My wife has a dream to go back to 205 Redbud Apartment. It was a place we used to live for 1 1/2 years at Indiana University. She wants to see whether 'Wail' still lives, the bus driver is still alive. And I want to go and eat at the Long John Silver all I can eat. I asked her to talk to my son who is with Exxon. May be he can make some arrangement to go to his boss place in Texas. My wife and I do not have any credit card. But she has no visa yet.

It is not easy to get a US visa. We have to make appointment for the interview months ahead and have to pay about RM300. The US government apply the interview fee as a reciprocal procedure. Because we charge them, then they charge us. In the interview there is no guarantee that your application can be approved. And even though you have a visa, you may be asked to come back if you have a suspicious record.

Distant traveling need a long planning and talking if you are going with a group. All in the group must have the same brain wave. Regular meetings and discussions must be held prior to the travel date. Or it would be easy to go with someone who knows nothing like my next door neighbor who followed me to Lubbock Texas to see his son. Imagine I took him to Los Angeles, then to Vegas, Grand Canyon, Texas, Arizona and Florida. If you look at a map you would not want to follow the trip. It took us a solid 3 weeks. How long is 3 weeks ? With the kind of movement you won't feel it. It was just like a few days, always not enough.

Why USA ? I like the design of the buildings in the towns. Not many places contain tall buildings. Because of the different ethnic group and different areas the design of the houses are different. The village is clean. Honolulu is one of the most beautiful cities in USA. Along the beach there are resting places where people play chess, and I played with one local who wanted me to visit Hawaii for a game or two with him.

Florida seems to be cheaper than the northern states. It is a heaven for entertainment.

If anyone have a desire of visiting United States get a few guys and plan well as early as possible.

Bill Clinton watching USA against Ghana. Ghana won 1 - 0.

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SPM WILL BE SCRAPPED TOO

Soon you will not be hearing about students getting straight As in the newspaper. The UPSR, PMR and SPM will be at school based. There will be no more public examinations as we have today. For what reason we don't know. The Ministry of Education refused to budge from the stand.

Certainly a private firm has to find a way to look for appropriate workers. In many jobs there will be a heavy turn over of workers due to the suitability adjustment problems. The school based examination will be full of hanky panky and dishonesty. Many parents would cry foul and pointed out at the imaginary discrimination.

Probably the marketability of the students will be based on the merit of the schools. Well known institutions like Chung Ling, Han Chiang, Penang Free, Sultanah Asma, Shan Alam and a few others have been the top rated schools. The unknown Kampong Schools probably will be suffrn ering and less marketable. That we don't know yet how students will be chosen into IPT.

The Indonesians had once adopted this and now has sworn not to talk about it anymore and has advised the Malaysians not to discard the public examination like the SPM.

For the wealthy whatever system we have here, will have no problem. A few chose to send their youngs overseas starting from primary to higher education. Some institutions here provide guarantee for jobs as long as you have the mean. Even becoming a pilot it is not something for a poor people how smart they are.

While we are selling certificates direct or indirectly, we still import thousands of foreign workers. Are they related ? Education, self-self esteem and the choice of jobs are related. It is quite difficult for the local with certificates of higher education to take the 'low' class job.

There will be the outgrowth of the private schools promising quality education and easy entry to foreign universities. The kind of twinning programs or setting up the foreign examination system would enabled these students to go overseas after form 5.

Hence it is not only the marketability of our students after almost 11 years of education but also whether we will be accepted in foreign universities. It could be expected that the quality of the new generations youth is lower than the youth of the good old days.

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BACK TO THE SQUARE ONE

After my operation I thought of hanging my boot on computer programming. And as to my old school which bought RFID cards for usage in December for the students wanted to design the students' card it's own way. I told them their way will take more than sixth month, my way was less than a week. But the wanted their own design.

Though the staffs had been using the RFID card and finger print for attendance, the students did not receive theirs yet. I saw the teachers prefer to use their fingers to the smart cards. Sometimes they left the cards in the car and at time in their bags. Fingers, they say, are easier.

Yesterday they said the students cards were ready. They want to use them the soonest for the hostelites to records the leaving the school compound and for home. Because my computers have been attacked and reformated, I had a hard time looking for old programs I wrote. I thought they would just let go and forget their project.

When I found the backup on the CDs, I have to study the codes back. I don't remember the files used, where they are kept and the operating procedures. It took me about 3 hours to fix the bits and pieces back again. Today I installed the software in two PCs belonging to the girl's and boy's hotels. Then the school had only one reader. At 4 pm the school rang up telling me the system ran very well. The students were excited too.

The smart card used by the student is with the school logo, student's picture, name, identity card number and on the rear some other information. In the card I put in several data like the name, IC, classroom, date of birth, address and a few others. I had to write a special program to that using the database the school already has. The same card will be used for library. In fact it can be used as a debit card too. I have design a code for value entry and deduction the amount as it passed thru a reader.

Writing software for people is a hard work. It consumes plenty of time and too little or no payment. Introducing to the Ministry would be worst because the officers there would only want to copy your idea then asked the people in KL to write and market them.

Writing codes for a little sum of money and only for one single user is not worth the concentration given. So just do a simple coding only.

I am not a programmer. Neither do I have any computer training. A few teachers thought I have a Master degree in computing. "I learned from the Internet.."I told them.

That's why when people want to go the easy way in getting things, I would despise them.

A few ham operators have been saying that I bluff and boast when I took RAE in essay form and developing soft wares. Though it was something of the past, it is something on the present. They are becoming a full pledge hams without CW and do not show even a little bit of respects. Not many. Many four or five out out 7000. Isn't that not many ?

I always say, "If they can, why we can't...."Younger people are more fresh and more capable then the old men. May it be in CW or in any other things as well.

I hope to train someone to maintain those programs I wrote for several people, including the school.

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Cars with wings may be just around the corner

If cars had wings, they could fly - and that just might happen, beginning next year. The company Terrafugia, based in Woburn, Mass., says it plans to deliver its car-plane, the Transition, to customers by the end of 2011. It recently cleared a major hurdle when the Federal Aviation Administration granted a special weight limit exemption to the Transition.

"It's the next 'wow' vehicle," said Terrafugia vice president Richard Gersh. "Anybody can buy a Ferrari, but as we say, Ferraris don't fly."

The Transition is a long way from cartoon dad George Jetson's flying car zooming above traffic, or even the magical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

"There is no launch button on the (instrument) panel," Gersh noted.

Rather, the car-plane has wings that unfold for flying - a process the company says takes one minute - and fold back up for driving. A runway is still required to takeoff and land.

The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies, although it is both. The company has been working with FAA to meet aircraft regulations, and with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations

The company is pitching the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient - and cheaper - way to fly. They say it eliminates the hassle trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports: You drive the car to the airport and then you're good to go. When you land, you fold up the wings and hit the road. There are no expensive hangar fees because you don't have to store it at an airport - you park it in the garage at home.

The plane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds, including fuel and passengers. Gas mileage on the road is about 30 mpg.

Terrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident by allowing pilots to drive under bad weather instead of flying into marginal conditions.

The Transition's price tag: $194,000. But there may be additional charges for options like a radio, transponder or GPS. Another option is a full-plane parachute.

"If you get into a very dire situation, it's the ultimate safety option," Gersh said.

So far, the company has more than 70 orders with deposits, he said.

Terrafugia is Latin for "escape from the land." The company was founded in 2006 by five Massachusetts Institute of Technology grad students who were also pilots. They received some seed money from the school.

The concept of a car-plane has been around since at least the 1950s, but it's possible that Terrafugia may become the first company to mass-produce one, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said.

"We're working very closely with them, but there are still some remaining steps," Brown said.

Top (04/07/2010 -Abdul Rahman)

STUDENT RE-UNION

To be honest I do not have interest to meet my school or class mate as I grow older for the simple reason that sometimes during the re-union time political speech was delivered asking us to support so and so. Secondly some people want to illicit donation for the old school. And most of all I don't feel like living much longer and I prefer to do things following my own mind. I want a free and peaceful mind.

On the other hand I am excited and keen to attend my student's re-union activities. Lately the students of Sekolah Menengah Vokasional Alor Setar/ Sekolah Menengah Teknik Jalan Stadium are fond of organizing meets including the big gathering of the old lost friends.

I want to see the number of students I can recognize not so on their names. I can't remember names. I might be able to recall a few very special ones who always help me or who are very famous. I would observe their behavior to see whether there are any changes. Almost all change in appearance and behavior. They become very matured and well spoken.

The problem with the re-union is that they are organized so close a part. There was on in Pendang recently. There will be another one on the 23 rd in Batu Frerenggi Penang. On 24 th will be in Grand Season Kuala Lumpur and at the end of July again in Kuala Lumpur.

The availability of computer networking, the chat thry Skype and Yahoo and the Facebook made the re-union possible. In fact many old students wrote back using the Facebook.

The other day I read in a Star Paper about a re-union where I saw a picture of old friends together. They are of all races and almost all look wise with their wrinkles.

When I was working I have a pleasure of meeting my teachers. I really respect them and felt very glad when they came to my school. I would scold them if they called me Cikgu. I want them to call me by my name 'Man'. When they brought their sons to school in my institution, I would say 'leave thing to me...' Then I rang up Kuala Lumpur telling them about a service I want to do to my old teacher. My Primary school teacher expressed his dire happiness when I just called him "Cikgu, apa khabar.." at a market place.

When students invite me for their re-union I want to attend all if I can, even in Kuala Lumpur or Johor. I would talk to my wife about it and plan our trip.

So far the 1995 - 2000 students had not make any meeting yet. Those were the years when our school rose up to the peak when we won awards after awards and being made a benched mark school. I had praised the students much for their good work. We had a famous battle cry of 'We Got To Be Number ONE'. We sang 'Aku Boleh at every assembly'. Najib visited our school and a few thousand more from all over the country.

If these student organize one, I will make sure I will attend it.

Top (04/07/2010 -Abdul Rahman)