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Topics ASEAN Disgusting reports Education Environment Esperanto info in Bahasa Melayu info in Chinese info in English Komen-komen Link Mind our English Politics Rojak issues Sayang-sayang Strictly Malaysia Trade Members Sign In	Entries in "info in English" 1 2 | > >> Extreme dieting: Eat less, live longer? 0 Comments / Subscribe To Comments Published: May.03.2007 @ 1:57 pm   Extreme dieting: Eat less, live longer? By Rebecca Morelle Science reporter, BBC News Bob Cavanaugh has restricted his diet for six years Scientists believe they are a step close to working out why an extremely restrictive diet boosts longevity. This well-documented calorie-cutting phenomenon has been seen in many species, from yeast to mice to dogs. Although the effects of "calorie restriction" in humans are as yet unknown, some are undertaking this in a bid to live longer. Here, Bob Cavanaugh, managing director of the Calorie Restriction Society, tells the BBC News website about his diet: I've been doing calorie restriction for six years. When I was 53, I had a physical and found out my blood cholesterol level was very high. My doctor wanted to try and control it with diet before resorting to drugs, and I was all in favour of that. I had read a book about calorie restriction and ageing back in 1988, and was convinced by the science, so I decided to try it. I use software to work out what to eat everyday. I believe without it, it is impossible to have proper nutrition. You weigh your food, and it works out the calories, the ratio of fat, carbohydrate and protein and the breakdown of vitamin, minerals and amino acids, then runs a nutritional profile of what you eat throughout the day.   The prospect of extending your lifespan is very appealing Bob Cavanaugh Calorie Restriction Society Gene clue to longevity found On an average day, I eat 1,800 calories. Younger people can restrict their calories more severely, but I've been told that, based on lab animal evidence, I have already accumulated years of damage to my mitochondria (the powerhouses of the cells), so I utilise my food less efficiently than a younger person. On a typical day, I will eat an oatmeal-based recipe for breakfast, which is about 455 calories and it gives me about half of my daily nutrients. I don't eat lunch - after this breakfast I just don't feel hungry - so that leaves me about 1,350 calories for my evening meal, which is a lot. If you are smart, by eating small portions of meat and small quantities of starchy things, that leaves an enormous amount of room for fruit and vegetables. You wind up eating quite a large meal and it is very filling, nutritious and satisfying. Exhilaration Contrary to popular belief you are not hungry on this diet, and I feel excellent. When I started the diet when I was 53, I felt like I was starting to get on in years and didn't quite have the vim and vigour I used to have. But starting calorie restriction, that exhilaration that I used to experience in youth returned and my whole sense of well-being returned to levels I experienced as a child. It really made me feel like I got my life back. In terms of health, my cholesterol level has really dropped, I now weigh 150lb, and I haven't had any illnesses at all - not even a cold. My motivation for doing calorie restriction was two-fold. One was to reduce my risk of age-related diseases such as heart disease - with the cholesterol level I had. I was in line for this. And the prospect of extending your lifespan is very appealing - although I guess you have to be somewhat narcissistic to think you are worth living a lot longer than anyone else. Gene clue to longevity uncovered 0 Comments / Subscribe To Comments Published: May.03.2007 @ 1:54 pm   Gene clue to longevity uncovered By Rebecca Morelle Science reporter, BBC News The study was carried out on nematode worms The mystery of how eating less boosts longevity is closer to being solved. Studies have shown that severe calorie restriction markedly extends lifespan in mice and many other species - but the reasons for this remained elusive. But now US research on nematode worms, published in Nature, has uncovered a gene linked to this unusual effect. In the future, the find could lead to drugs that mimic the consequences of calorie restriction but negate the need for severe fasting regimes. Sweet-spot The life-lengthening properties of reducing calorie intake were first discovered in the 1930s, when laboratory rodents fed a severely reduced diet were found to outlive their well-fed peers. Since then, this effect has been observed on organisms as diverse as yeast, flies, worms and dogs. The consequences for humans of cutting calorie intake by about 60% while maintaining levels of vital nutrients are still unclear, although this extreme diet has a number of followers. Andrew Dillin, an author of the paper and an associate professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, said: "If you reduce food too much, you go towards starvation and live less long. If you overeat you will succumb to obesity and have a short lifespan. Dietary restriction is really a sweet-spot between the two. "But for 72 years, we have not known how it works." The scientists say mammals have a similar gene to pha-4 A study using nematode worms (Caenorhabditis elegans) revealed that a gene called pha-4 played a key role. The team found worms that had their pha-4 genes removed showed no enhanced longevity while on the restricted diet. But they discovered that the opposite experiment - over-expressing levels of pha-4 in the worms - increased longevity when on the restricted diet. "This is the first gene we have found that is absolutely essential to the longevity response to dietary restriction," explained Dr Dillin. "We finally have genetic evidence to unravel the underlying molecular programme required for increased longevity in response to calorie restriction." Feast or famine Although the study was carried out on worms, the finding could also be important for other species. Mammals, including humans, possessed genes that were highly similar to the pha-4 gene, explained Dr Dillin. Eat less, live longer? These genes play a key role in development, and then in later life in the regulation of glucagon, a hormone that has a major role in maintaining glucose levels in blood - especially during fasting. In fact, scientists believe the life-increasing effect of dietary restriction may be linked to boosting chances of survival through times of food scarcity. "Pha-4 may be the primordial gene to help an animal overcome stressful conditions to live a long time through dietary restriction conditions," explained Dr Dillin. Parallels? Scientists now plan to look at the gene in other species. Should the longevity link also apply to humans, it could open the door to the development of drugs that mimic the effects of calorie restriction while allowing people to maintain their normal diet, the scientists said. Professor Richard Miller of the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Michigan, commented: "It is really hard to guess whether the connections that we see between the pha-4 system and calorie restriction in worms will have parallels in mammals, whose repertoire of responses to various forms of long- and short-term food shortages are far more complex than those of worms. "But the Dillin paper provides both motivation to look and also clues about where to look. I think it's likely to be influential, even if the implications for mammals do eventually turn out to be a cul-de-sac - which they might or might not." How true ? 0 Comments / Subscribe To Comments Published: Mar.30.2007 @ 11:01 am I think it is qutie true as the kids need more attention but if the parents are not quality parents, it makes not difference http://www.slate.com/id/2162876/pagenum/all/#page_start Chest presses, not breaths, better CPR 0 Comments / Subscribe To Comments Published: Mar.17.2007 @ 11:08 am   Associated Press All Associated Press News Chest presses, not breaths, better CPR March 16, 2007 04:12:20 PM PST Chest compression — not mouth-to-mouth resuscitation — seems to be the key in helping someone recover from cardiac arrest, according to new research that further bolsters advice from heart experts. A study in Japan showed that people were more likely to recover without brain damage if rescuers focused on chest compressions rather than rescue breaths, and some experts advised dropping the mouth-to-mouth part of CPR altogether. The study was published in Friday's issue of the medical journal The Lancet. More than a year ago, the American Heart Association revised CPR guidelines to put more emphasis on chest presses, urging 30 instead of 15 for every two breaths given. Stopping chest compressions to blow air into the lungs of someone who is unresponsive detracts from the more important task of keeping blood moving to provide oxygen and nourishment to the brain and heart. Another big advantage to dropping the rescue breaths: It could make bystanders more willing to provide CPR in the first place. Many are unwilling to do the mouth-to-mouth part and become flummoxed and fearful of getting the ratio right in an emergency. Sudden cardiac arrest — when the heart suddenly stops beating — can occur after a heart attack or as a result of electrocution or near-drowning. It's most often caused by an abnormal heart rhythm. The person experiencing it collapses, is unresponsive to gentle shaking and stops normal breathing. In the new study, researchers led by Dr Ken Nagao of Surugadai Nihon University Hospital in Tokyo analyzed 4,068 adult patients who had cardiac arrest witnessed by bystanders. Of those, 439 received chest compressions only from bystanders, and 712 received conventional CPR — compressions and breaths. Any CPR attempt improved survival odds. However, 22 percent of those who received just chest compressions survived with good neurological function compared with only 10 percent of those who received combination CPR. "Eliminating the need for mouth-to-mouth ventilation will dramatically increase the occurrence of bystander-initiated resuscitation efforts and will increase survival," Dr. Gordon Ewy, a cardiologist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, writes in an accompanying editorial. A big caveat: The combination CPR in the Japanese study was given according to the old guidelines of 15 presses for every two breaths, not the 30 presses recommended now. The American Heart Association said the study supports a focus on chest presses, but the association does not expect its advice to change. It recommends that bystanders provide compression-only CPR if they are "unwilling or unable" to do mouth-to-mouth breathing at the same time and for emergency dispatchers to give instructions on that. The association wants to see survival results from programs that use compression-only CPR for cardiac arrest. "It is important to note that victims of cardiac arrest from non-cardiac causes, like near-drowning or electrocution, and almost all victims of pediatric cardiac arrest benefit from a combination of rescue breathing and chest compressions," a heart association statement says. More than 300,000 Americans die from cardiac arrest each year. About 75 percent to 80 percent of all cardiac arrests outside a hospital happen at home, and effective CPR can double a victim's chance of survival. Roughly 9 out of 10 cardiac arrest victims die before they get to the hospital — partly because they don't get CPR. ___ On the Net: Lancet article: http://tinyurl.com/2fup97 American Heart Association: http://www.americanheart.org   World War III 0 Comments / Subscribe To Comments Published: Aug.08.2006 @ 2:16 pm http://www.atimes.com      PART 1: World War III - what, me worry? By Chan Akya Sam Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations is now being made operational in the Middle East, thanks to the neo-conservatives' vision of the West triumphing over Islam. The end game that most right-wing observers look to now is a conflagration that sees the West take on Islam, supported by a coalition of willing allies in Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, Islam counts on its army of the faithful to lend support. Be that as it may, I believe that both the West and Islam overestimate their hold on, if not their importance to, the Chinese and Hindu civilizations. The prospect of World War III, rather than forcing them to choose sides, is more likely to cause policy paralysis, despite the fact that both India and China stand to benefit from the conflagration. While it is in their interest to cause an outright war between the two sides, they are more likely to engage in navel-gazing. Neither the West nor Islam has covered itself with glory as far as China and India are concerned. While the Chinese would consider the West as hurting it more particularly in the past 100 years, for India the balance tilts more against Islam. This observation is more pertinent when seeing the eventual place the two societies envisage for themselves in the world. It is interesting to note that while their philosophies are different, the basic outcome has been the same, namely that both China and India were splendidly isolated from the rest of the world in the heyday of their civilizations. There is little moral justification for either country to support the West or Islam. Early Indian and Chinese explorers found little to occupy them in their journeys outside of their countries. The contact between Chinese and Indian cultures led to the export of Buddhism from India. In a study of Buddhism's reach, we can gauge how the two cultures would react to a changing world. The India that Prince Gautam was born into was dominated by the Hindu system, albeit one run by the principles of Manu, rather than the more egalitarian Vedic culture. The doctrine of Manu was a product of the Aryan conquest of the ancient peoples of India, including the Dravidians in the south of the country. In this world, with its multifaceted rituals and barbaric animal sacrifices, the arrival of Buddhism portended substantial changes. The language of the ruling classes, Sanskrit, was quickly subsumed by the language of Buddhism, Pali. As the first great emperor of India, Ashok, converted to Buddhism, ancient Hindu culture suffered its first real shock in 1,000 years. The response was revolutionary more than evolutionary, with the country's ruling classes quickly removing public practices forbidden in Buddhism, such as animal sacrifices. The kinder, gentler culture that arose from this period did not have to wait long for its turn to revenge. The ascetic principles of Buddhism were simply incompatible with running a large country that was already a melting point for various races. This failure to impose discipline was to cost Ashok's followers dearly, ending the dynasty barely 100 years after his death. Still, the damage to Hindu culture was done. With a weaker resolve at the center, regional kingdoms became more powerful, in a development that was not to reverse for 1,000 years. That left the individual kingdoms more vulnerable to the onslaught of a new group of invaders from the West, namely Islam. As smaller kingdoms quickly crumbled against the onslaught of Islam, Hindus took refuge behind the apparently cosmetic differences. They were also helped by the historical fact that while Islam unites in times of defeat, victory is often fatal for Muslims. Thus it is that from the 9th through the 13th centuries Islamic conquerors of northern Indian states usually found themselves under siege from their co-religionists. The most famous battle of all during the period featured the Mughal leader Babur against a Muslim ruler, Ibrahim Lodi, on the other side of Panipat. Furthermore, to pay for the various battles, Muslim rulers had to impose various taxes on their populations. I believe this was the main reason for their lack of enthusiasm in converting the Hindu population to Islam. The second reason was of course the ultimate in scorched-earth policies that history has ever known, namely the mass incidents of sati (female suicides) in kingdoms that Muslims conquered. In any event, Islam left alive a culture that would in future pose a great threat. Buddhism also weakened the patriarchal Chinese culture, but did provide a benefit in that it acted to homogenize cultural practices across the country. Thus people in southern China could relate to their northern cousins more than previously was possible, because of the role of Buddhist monasteries and temples. The common schools for monks, in Tibet and other places, provided China with its first glimpse of mystic as against practical religion. The key development in China's history, though, was under the Emperor Qin, who unified the country through substantial warfare combined with a common language. The resulting monolith of an empire was able to shrug off the Muslim warlords from Central Asia with relative ease, particularly when compared with the problems that a splintered India down south faced. For this reason, Islam generally treated China and its culture with grudging respect, quite unlike its view of other cultures. This state of affairs remained for a long time, until the West gained enough technical mastery of weapons first developed by China to take on the Chinese empire. It is at this point that China's relative insularity was to go against the country - a failure to observe and learn from the decline of Hindu civilization against Islam. The Western conquest of China followed a pattern similar to that of India's decline, namely gradual wars in the periphery that weakened central authority, finally culminating in an assault across the country. There are today not enough Christians or Muslims in China to push the country in the direction of supporting either the West or Islam in any global conflagration. However, a resurgent West poses more of a threat to China's patriarchal culture, which is not very different from the centralized authority-driven culture of Islam. Given that, it is more likely that China would tilt toward supporting Islam, as its weapons-proliferation efforts over the past few years have shown. The missile used by Hezbollah this month to sink an Israeli ship was an Iranian variant of a Chinese Silkworm; similar ancestries can be established for many of the medium- and long-range weapons currently in the hands of Islamic tyrants. It is also noteworthy that the only working nuclear weapons in the Islamic world belong to Pakistan, and are almost entirely reverse-engineered from actual Chinese bombs. This leads me to conclude that an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East would eventually necessitate the West to demand adequate support from China, failing which the country itself could become a target. The waxworks of Beijing are likely to grant enough concessions to the West to avoid being attacked, and then lie in wait for their revenge. The Indian situation is more precarious. While much of the country's right-wing intelligentsia would push it to war against Islam, there is enough of a fifth column in place to thwart the country's historic quest for vengeance. India's Muslims number more than any other country's in the world with the exception of Indonesia. Add to these the populations of both Pakistan and Bangladesh, and Indian military might is in essence boxed in. Neither the Indian air force nor the army can offer much assistance to the West. The only aspect of Indian military that the West may benefit from is also its least developed one, namely the Indian navy. I do not see the likelihood of India playing any role in a direct confrontation between Islam and the West, and therefore it is more likely that it sits on the sidelines waiting for the West to do its job. Next: China and India in World War III http://www.atimes.com      PART 2 China and India in World War III By Chan Akya I wrote in Part 1 (World War III - what, me worry?, July 25) on the subject of how China and India would fail to react in the event that the West and Islam proceed toward a full conflagration, even if such a conflict would be a heaven-sent opportunity for both powers to fully realize their own strategic objectives. While current events dictate an eventual conflict, a number of factors will have to fall in place before World War III does break out. The roles for North Korea, Taiwan and Pakistan are falling into place in this conflict, and it is using these cards that the West and Islam can play the two ancient civilizations. I predict that future generations of Indians and Chinese will literally worship George W Bush and Osama bin Laden for having pushed the West into a disastrous conflict with Islam. An escalation of terrorist attacks against Christian and Jewish powers has already caused the moral compass to tilt against Islam. It appears only a matter of time before either the United States or Israel uses weapons of mass destruction against an Islamic power, albeit for preemptive rather than offensive purposes. That Iranian nuclear establishments will be bombed in the next few months is by now a foregone conclusion. If the US decides to use conventional but lethal force, rather than risk allowing Israeli bombing of Iranian facilities, the moral compass shifts back in favor of Islam. President Bush has failed to finish the job with bin Laden, leaving the mess for someone else to handle - eerily echoing the same failure of his father to depose Saddam Hussein, which necessitated his current misadventure in Iraq. Assuming that the US does attack Iranian facilities, how does the progress to an all-out war between Islam and the West take place? We have to recognize that no established Islamic power has the ability to strike outside of its immediate border. The armed forces of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran have no capacity to inflict meaningful harm on the West. The sole exception is Pakistan, which is why the global terrorist brotherhood will probably focus more of its attention on this country than any other in the next few months. The key strategic aim here would be to secure a working nuclear weapon. Sensing an opportunity to unite against greater enemies, we have seen in July cooperation not only between Hamas and Hezbollah, but also potentially with bin Laden, if the recent train bomb attacks that killed almost 200 in India were orchestrated by al-Qaeda as is being claimed. It appears more than a coincidence that both Israel and India were attacked at the same time - I expect that moves to drag Pakistan into outright war against the West are already under way. Perverse logic Pakistan is ruled by President General Pervez Musharraf, who is focused almost exclusively on his own survival. Casting his tent with the West after September 11, 2001, was a stroke of genius that immediately opened up Western coffers that had been unavailable since the country's nuclear tests in 1998. Still, keeping local militants on his side has involved the obvious barter of border peace with India, in other words by leaving the Kashmir issue unresolved. This serves as a rallying call for the faithful, and to the extent that disaffected youth plan carnage in India rather than in Karachi, the general is left with breathing room. In return for letting them operate, it appears the terrorists promised to keep a relatively low profile until the end of this year - that is, after the US elections in November. However, I believe that the plan has backfired. Just as Syria failed to show much control over Hezbollah, Pakistan has lost control of its militants, who now appear to work directly with al-Qaeda command structures. The turning point could well have been the Pakistani army attacks in the Pashtun areas that were undertaken to keep the US happy in its "war on terror". Disenchanted that the Pakistani army could kill its own creations, Kashmiri militants appear to have bypassed the army, going straight to the Taliban and perhaps even to bin Laden. This explains the attacks on both Srinagar (grenade explosions that killed nine) and Mumbai on the same day, a move that seems to have caught even the Pakistani army by surprise, if its state of readiness in the days preceding the attacks is any indication. A continuation of such attacks on Indian targets will embarrass the Pakistani army, while any ham-fisted attempts to collar the terrorists will likely backfire in a similar way the conflict in Waziristan did. (The conflict began in 2004 when the Pakistani army began its search for al-Qaeda in the mountainous Waziristan tribal areas.) The Pakistani army will find soon that the costs of keeping Musharraf in power outweigh the benefits, particularly if no arms supplies materialize from the US. At that juncture, and disguised as a coup, there is every chance that a nuclear weapon will go missing. This weapon will be to World War III what Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip was to World War I. China can't, India won't Rather than India, I believe the West would turn to China if this eventuality were to arise. The chief reason, as I wrote before, is that India's 150 million Muslims in essence rule out any chance of direct Indian involvement in the battle. China, on the other hand, has a big role to play, because of its influence on both Pakistan (which has weapons of mass destruction) and North Korea (which has the projectiles capable of delivering them). While many commentators have joked about the accuracy of North Korean missiles, claiming for example that the safest place in the world is the target, such humor falls flat if the projectile is armed with a nuclear weapon. Many Pakistani generals study and train in China, and the country has provided key technologies. If China were to prove unwilling to cooperate, as it finds more in common with Islam than the West, then the US and Europe are likely to use the Taiwan card. No Chinese leader can survive Taiwanese independence; the event might well prove catastrophic for the Chinese Communist Party itself. Under the circumstances, its desire to prevent a split would push China to support the West, much as it might prefer to do the opposite. What can China actually do, though, if nuclear weapons go missing in Pakistan? Beyond the initial stage of assessing responsibility, China can also pinpoint other locations for safeguarding - this is the reason that I do not expect the entire nuclear arsenal of Pakistan to fall into the hands of the Islamist powers. Since the 1998 Pakistani nuclear tests in 1998 showed that the weapons had Chinese origins, Beijing has been constantly pressured to maintain a close watch on locations and access. Thus it becomes imperative for the West to use China as a preventive measure rather than a cure. Enough pressure on China combined with obdurate Pakistani leadership may push Chinese confrontation against Pakistan, starting with an abrogation of the friendship treaty. That leaves China free to pretend that a conflict involving Pakistan does not necessarily extend to itself. The People's Liberation Army has sufficient strike power, but that's only so long as the enemy drives in through the Gobi Desert. I repeat that despite all the historical reasons that India's right wing would extend, there is no chance of the country participating in a war between the West and Islam. Failing to find an ally that will directly occupy Pakistan and Iran, the West will be left with no alternative but to attempt this on its own, with the US, Russia and the United Kingdom providing a bulk of the manpower. The outcome will be a sufficient weakening of both the West and Islamic power over the following 20 years. This is the concluding article of this comment.

The Star Online > Nation

Wednesday July 26, 2006

Asean must speak up

By MAZWIN NIK ANIS and JANE RITIKOS

newsdesk@thestar.com.my 

KUALA LUMPUR: Asean must make its voice heard loud and clear that it cannot tolerate the attacks by Israel on Palestine and Lebanon. 

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the regional grouping must not be indifferent to the problems in the Middle East, which were threatening international peace and security. 

He said the subjugation and repression of the Palestinians had been “one of the profound tragedies of our time”. 

Asean, he said, should condemn Israel’s latest use of disproportionate force in Gaza and the West Bank as well as press the United Nations to seek an immediate ceasefire, and deploy a peacekeeping force to prevent an invasion of Lebanon.  

“While Asean’s priority should necessarily be the fostering of regional peace, security and cooperation, we must also take part in addressing pressing international issues in order to stake our relevance,” Abdullah said yesterday in his address at the opening of the 39th Asean Ministerial Meeting at the KL Convention Centre. 

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (seventh from left) leading Asean foreign ministers in a show of unity at the opening of the 39th Asean Ministerial Meeting in Kuala Lumpur Tuesday. He told the grouping not to be indifferent to the problems in West Asia, which were threatening international peace and security. He said Asean should condemn Israel’s use of disproportionate force in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. Later, the foreign ministers issued a statement condemning the attacks. — STARpic by NORAFIFI EHSAN

He also stressed on the importance of maintaining regional peace and security.  

“We must contribute to the fight against international terrorism. In fact, terrorism has also become a menace to society in our region as well as the stability of our respective countries. 

“In our own region in South-East Asia, the maintenance of peace and security must remain, always, our top priority.” 

Abdullah said Asean’s future would also be affected by the new wave of globalisation, where new challenges would not only be economic, social and internal, but also strategic and global in nature. 

“These challenges emanate from beyond our region and are therefore out of our immediate control. All of these will severely test Asean’s unity,” he said.  

“But we must be steadfast in keeping up solidarity, and remain focused on achieving our common mission of fostering greater and greater regional integration.”  

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Video Clips on the 39th Asean Ministerial Meeting 2006 

Sunday July 23, 2006 Evaluation should be transparent I REFER to the letter “What yardstick for excellence?” by Surajnaidu (StarEducation, July 16).   Having been in the teaching profession for over 30 years, I can understand the writer's unhappiness over the way teachers are evaluated and rewarded.   It is bad enough when one's efforts are not recognised but it is really maddening when the wrong candidates are rewarded. There is then a sense of grave injustice.   The rewarding or promotion of teachers should be a transparent exercise. The criteria for excellence in teaching should be spelt out clearly, and the decision to reward excellent candidates made by a committee comprising senior teachers and the principal.   But what often happens is that the principal, acting like a little Napolean, makes his or her own selection without consultation with senior teachers. And the principal tends to reward cronies who do the principal’s bidding without question.   What the present system is doing is very damaging to the morale of the teaching profession as it gives principals the power to nurture cronyism instead of professionalism.   Recently, our Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak criticised civil servants for being too subservient. The impact of this problem is worse in schools because students are affected by the examples set by teachers.   How can we hope to develop critical thinking skills in students when teachers themselves are meek and subservient?   The “rare” teachers who question rationales for directives or ideas put forward by their principals are often regarded as trouble-makers and subsequently blacklisted in promotion exercises.   Is it any wonder that many students in schools and universities then do not have critical thinking skills, or are unable to think out of the box?   Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein recently announced plans to revamp the education system. To do so, we need teachers who can think rationally and critically, not just unquestioningly do the principal's bidding.   Unfortunately, years of subservience to the school authorities have nurtured a generation of teachers who generally dare not speak out. As a retiree, I wish the Education Minister the best of luck!  I would like to suggest the evaluation of a teacher's performance be carried out in a more transparent manner so as to encourage teachers to improve their teaching, not hone their skills at currying favour with the boss.     HELEN CHEW  Via e-mail

The Star Online > Nation

Wednesday July 19, 2006

Holistic reform plan needed

COMMENT
By K. PARKARAN

parky@thestar.com.my 

ENFORCEMENT officers from local authorities bulldozing illegal structures, including temples, is not something new in the country. To be fair, they normally give adequate notice to the occupants of their intention before taking this tough action.  

It is fine if it involves a structure with no religious significance. But the moment the building has been serving the spiritual interests of a community for decades, it takes on a new dimension. Rightly or wrongly, the issue of fundamental liberties and rights crops up. 

A God-fearing person of any faith will be upset to see temples and deities being smashed and reduced to rubble. Whether their anger is rightly placed or justified is another matter altogether.  

Never mind that these structures are sometimes located in odd places and are in the way of infrastructure projects planned for the people. 

You cannot blame the people for their anguish at being hapless when witnessing the demolition of a temple, which they consider a sacrilegious act. 

On the other hand, it’s hard to blame the authorities.  

This issue of illegal temples being demolished is not a new problem – it surfaces every now and then in different localities. 

The MIC had several years ago embarked on an exercise to register all temples built illegally on government land.  

It is understood that the list had about 20,000 temples, mostly small structures. More than half of the temples were listed as illegal structures.  

The rush at which some of these structures were demolished in the last few months had attracted the attention of the international media, which has wrongly portrayed the move as “oppressing the minority Hindus in a predominantly Muslim country”.  

The Western media and the Asian Human Rights Commission have also joined in the chorus and you cannot blame them, really.  

To an outsider who does not know the political and religious culture in Malaysia, and they being from nations that practise absolute freedom of worship, this act may seem like a form of oppression.  

Their stand on this is further reinforced when a 100-year-old temple, for example, is torn down to make way for progress.  

To these people, we must emphasise that there are also many temples, legally built, and standing majestically in strategic locations around the country.  

And it is important to note here that many of these were partly funded by the Government through the MIC. Even assessment fees are waived for these institutions.  

The argument by the authorities is that although freedom of worship is absolute, freedom to build places of worship is not.  

All structures within a municipality need a building plan approved by the local authorities. That is the basic requirement, and no one gets away with building illegal structures on government land.  

However, one has to take into consideration that many of these temples were built long before the locality was made a district or municipal council. But this cannot mean that the temples could continue to exist without any interference.  

Land, being a state matter, all MIC state executive council members have an important role to play as they meet the mentris besar and chief ministers every week. The elected representatives are also the conduit between the community and the state authorities.  

Solutions  

What’s needed now is a long-term solution to resolve the problem and a short-term action that must consider the sensitivities of a community, which sees itself, rightly or wrongly, as being downtrodden.  

The long-term solution is for local authorities to gazette land for construction of places of worship for all religions.  

There must be a serious commitment by all parties concerned, especially the Cabinet, which must understand that the issue is an extremely contentious one. It cannot, and should not, leave it to the discretion of local authorities.  

Builders must carry out their social obligation by ensuring there is a place for all religions in their development projects. 

Relocating and merging 

The Indian community has a major role to play by understanding and accepting that numbers do not mean anything.  

Temple managements, where possible, must be sincere enough to understand the predicament and be prepared to merge and relocate.  

Those agreeing to this should not view it as a defeat but as being magnanimous and non-confrontational, which all religions preach.  

Even the MIC and Hindus have admitted that there is a need to merge and relocate some of the temples for effective management, as there are far too many now. 

All temples should be treated as sacrosanct institutions with proper facilities for devotees. Admittedly, there are many whose condition leaves much to be desired.  

It is of national importance that the Federal Government leads in efforts, with the help of the MIC, to spearhead a temple reform plan to put things right. Demolishing illegal temples is not the solution.  

For now, a moratorium on demolition of illegal temples is needed. 

And only the Cabinet can issue that order. 

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The Star Online > Central

Saturday July 15, 2006

Scottish scouts help orang asli

By AZLIANA AZIZ

Clad in their Scout uniforms, complete with the kilt, the Scottish scouts are looking confident about their tasks ahead.

The team of 22 scouts aged from 14 to 18 years together with six scout leaders will be undertaking two projects in the village, where an adventure playground will be built, and the community reconstructed and renovated.  

The projects that are to be carried out by the scouts were initially discussed with the head of Kampung Pos Terisu 3 and it was decided that a playground for the children is the most useful.  

“The village has about 70 children and there are no facilities for them,” said expedition leader Neil Mackenzie,  

He also added that this project is a good opportunity for the scouts to learn from the orang asli, and vice-versa hence promoting cultural exchange.  

There the orang asli villagers will teach the scouts how to select and cut bamboos from the jungle and tie them up to make flooring as well as show them various plants and vegetation growing in the area that can be eaten or used for medicinal purposes. 

The scouts will also share with the villagers, details of their lifestyles, culture and tell them about their homeland. 

Once their work in Kampung Pos Terisu 3 is completed, the scouts will proceed with three, three-day trips to Terengganu, Cherating and Malacca. 

Singapore’s falling living standards By Alex Au SINGAPORE - A local Singapore newspaper, Today, just suspended one of its regular columnists after the government gave him a tongue-lashing for his writings about the deteriorating state of the local economy. Lee Kin Mun, who writes under the pseudonym "Mr Brown", wrote a harsh, though humorous, commentary on June 30 concerning Singapore’s rising cost of living, mentioning that latest official statistics showed that one in every three Singaporean households had suffered a reduction in income over the last five years. The irony, which was not lost on the island state’s government, was that Lee cited official statistics to bolster his argument. On June 28, the Department of Statistics (DOS) issued a press STRIP--> release with a slew of new data from its general household survey. The most striking result was that only 50% of Singaporean households enjoyed any significant improvement in their income over the five-year period spanning 2000 to 2005. Moreover, the bottom 10.1% of households reported no or negative income, a marked deterioration from the 2000 level when 8.7% of the population reported they were in the red. The DOS explained that a possible factor for the notable increase was the aging of Singapore's population and that an increasing percentage of the population was retiring. More striking, perhaps, the 11 to 20 percentile group saw their household incomes fall a whopping 19.7% over the same five year period. On average, these households had S$1,180 (US$744) monthly incomes last year, compared to S$1,470 (US$927) five years previously. On an annualized basis, their average household income fell 4.3% each year. A smaller income fall was recorded for the next up percentile group. The DOS suggested that the decline in household income in these two groups "was partly caused by the larger number of households with retired persons and no incomes". "It could also be partly due to the higher unemployment in 2005 than 2000 ... and lower income from employment," the statement said, which acknowledges both structural unemployment and depressed wages in less-skilled jobs. The data on household income notably excludes government hand-outs, which the ruling People’s Action Party doled out just before the general elections they resoundingly won earlier this year. The most recent round of hand-outs, which targeted the lower-income households, was called the "Progress Package". In contrast to the one-third of households which witnessed falling household incomes, the top10% of households saw a 14.8% improvement in theirs. In Singapore dollar terms, their monthly household incomes leapt by an average of S$2,120 (US$1,337) over the period. The figures show clearly that income inequality in Singapore is increasing rapidly. The DOS reported that the Gini coefficient increased from 0.490 to 0.522 from year 2000 to 2005. The Gini coefficient is a statistical measure of income inequality, whereby the higher the number, the more unequal the distribution. The Straits Times, Singapore’s government-influenced major English language newspaper, reported that members of parliament were, "not surprised by the survey findings, noting that these reflected the effects of globalization." This response was consistent with the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts' letter to Today explaining that the government "had told Singaporeans all along, that globalization would stretch out incomes". However, most Singaporeans would probably have taken "stretch out" to mean that incomes would universally rise but at differential rates, not that a large percentage of the population would get poorer. The increasing cost of living was one of the major issues in the May 2006 general election, but the data from this survey was conspicuously not released in time for the May polls. Shooting the messenger In his commentary, Mr Brown alluded to how convenient it was that the survey results, together with recent announcements about increases in electricity rates and taxi fares, have come out after rather than before the elections. "We are very thankful for the timing of all this good news, of course. Just after the elections, for instance," he wrote, tongue in cheek. "It would have been too taxing on the brain if those price increases were announced during the election period, thereby affecting our ability to choose wisely," he wrote. On July 3, a stern rebuke from the government appeared in the form of a letter published in Today. Signed by Miss Krishnasamy Bhavani, the Press Secretary to the Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts, she denied that the release of the survey data was in any way delayed for political purposes. She took Mr Brown to task for writing a piece that "poured sarcasm on many issues", and claimed that his views "distort the truth". Characterizing his commentary as "polemics dressed up as analysis", Bhavani accused him of calculating to "encourage cynicism and despondency". "Instead of a diatribe," she continued, Mr Brown "should offer constructive criticism and alternatives. And he should come out from behind his pseudonym to defend his views openly." This statement echoed the government's growing concerns that anonymous bloggers on the Internet have found a venue to criticize the PAP-led administration in ways which otherwise would be impossible in Singapore’s tightly-controlled society. The government's response has been to try to frame all anonymous posts and blogs as “irresponsible and discreditable”, and is now exploring new laws and regulations to rein them in. Mr Brown also runs one of Singapore's best-known blogs, even though he also writes a regular column for the print newspaper. But immediately after the government's outburst, which included a reminder to the newspaper that, "It is not the role of journalists or newspapers in Singapore to champion issues, or campaign for or against the government," the editors of Today told Lee his column would be suspended indefinitely. Left with only government-influenced mainstream media, Singaporeans will likely be left to guess if their economic lot is improving or deteriorating until the DOS’s next 5-year survey is released - unless their wallets tell them first. Alex Au is an independent social and political commentator and freelance writer based in Singapore. He often speaks at public forums on politics, culture and gay issues.