SMK Derma students win top prize

31/05/2010

KANGAR: They may be rookies but they were big on brains. SMK Derma students pipped their rivals to win the top prize and the right to represent Perlis as the upper secondary champs for the RHB–The Star Mighty Minds national finals.

The trio, all aged 17, whooped and cheered with their teacher and supporters after outwitting 56 other teams at the Perlis state challenge held at SJK (C) Khoon Aik here on Saturday.

“We faced a hiccup up during the hands-on challenge when our LEDs did not light up well. Our schoolmates in another team were 3.8 points ahead of us.

Northern exposure: Mighty Minds Perlis state challenge winners from SMK Perlis and upper-secondary category winner from SMK Derma posing with their teacher and RHB Bank Kedah and Perlis area manager Hasmah Jusoh (right).

“And the buzzer challenge was even worse because we had to race against time to hit the buzzer button. We panicked and messed up our calculations,” team member Lee Ze Chen said.

Hasan Hamlussalam gave credit to teammate Foo Sher Maine, a school debator, who displayed superior oratory skills during the oral presentation.

“A lot of teams lost points in this 35-mark section, but we did very well,” he said.

Clinching the top prize in the lower-secondary category were Form Three students Saw Kang Aun, Tham Wei Yi and Timothy Levins from SMK Perlis.

“Although we read the newspapers every day, it was sheer luck that we could answer many of the general knowledge questions. It was a case of you either know it or you don’t,” Saw said.

The winning teams from both categories walked home with RM3,000 cash and a desktop computer for their schools. Prizes were also awarded to the other top five teams.

The competition is jointly organised by Star Publications (M) Bhd and RHB Banking Group. Divided into two categories – lower secondary (Forms One to Three) and upper secondary (Forms Four and Five) – the competition will sweep through all 14 states before culminating in the finals in October.

If you’re a secondary student in Johor, Sarawak, Kelantan, Perak, Sabah, Kedah, Penang and Selangor, act fast. The competition will be heading your way soon.

The contest schedule and registration forms are available fromwww.thestar.com.my/mightyminds/.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/5/31/nation/6372139&sec=nation

Gift of sight for ex-teacher

31/05/2010

By LEE YUK PENG and CHRISTINA TAN

PETALING JAYA : Retired teacher Mohd Dali Mohd Yatim has received the gift of sight again.

The 75-year-old former teacher from SMK Ave Maria in Ipoh underwent five corneal transplants – twice on his left eye and three times on his right eye between 1972 and 2009.

The latest gift came from Sri Lanka last year through the Buddhist Maha Vihara Temple in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur in conjunction with Wesak Day celebration.

Better view: Mohd Dali going through a magazine with improved eyesight after undergoing cornea transplant on his right eye at the Tun Hussein Onn National Eye Hospital last May.

He was one of the five patients who benefited from corneas donated by Sri Lankans.

The temple had carried out the coordination work.

“I am very thankful to the Sri Lanka Eye Bank, the Buddhist Maha Vihara Temple and the donors,” said Mohd Dali when met at the Tun Hussein Onn National Eye Hospital recently.

He was touched by the temple’s effort and the generosity of the cornea donors from Sri Lanka.

They had helped people like him without taking into account religious belief or skin colour, he said.

Mohd Dali’s eyesight failed due to damaged cornea when he was in his 30s. In 1972, he flew to Sri Lanka for his first corneal transplant on his left eye.

Two years later, the eye bank in Sri Lanka contacted him for another corneal transplant on his right eye.

After his retirement in 1990, Mohd Dali’s eyesight deteriorated again.

He underwent cornea transplant, his third one, on the left eye in 1992.

Six years later in 1998, a toy gun that his grandchild was playing with accidentaly struck his left eye, causing permanent damage.

Subsequently, he received the fourth corneal transplant on his right eye from an American donor in 2004.

Last year, he went to the Tun Hussein Onn National Eye Hospital for another transplant on the right eye as it was infected.

Sri Lanka High Commissioner to Malaysia Dr D.D. Ranasinghe said Sri Lankans had been donating organs and tissues for the past 25 years.

The country is one of the largest cornea donors in the world, supplying some 60,000 corneas to 60 countries.

“Besides donating to our own people, Sri Lankans also donate corneas to other nations free of charge. No selling of organs is allowed,” said Dr Ranasinghe.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/5/31/nation/6370301&sec=nation

Don’t cut subsidies for students, says deputy minister

31/05/2010

TEMERLOH: The Government has been urged to continue with subsidies under the Higher Education Ministry’s education programmes for students from poor families.

Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said the ministry provided education subsidies which most parents relied on to send their children for higher studies.

He said many students would not be able to pursue higher studies if the facility was to be withdrawn.

“Many parents in the rural areas whose children study at public institutions of higher learning rely on government aid and loans,” he told reporters after closing a Moh Desa Perwira programme at the National Defence University in Kampung Bangau Parit near here yesterday.

He said the loans provided by the National Higher Education Fund Corporation had helped ease the parents’ burden.

“As such, it would not be right for the Government to reduce or withdraw the education subsidy.”

In Petaling Jaya, National Union of Bank Employees secretary-general J. Solomon said NUBE was not in favour of a gradual reduction in subsidies unless initiatives to turn the country towards a high-income economy had been achieved.

“Currently, NUBE is unable to give its support as the 30,000 workers in the banking sector are lowly paid with increasing debts even though the profits of the banks in the last 10 years are very evident,” he said in a statement yesterday.

He said the New Economic Model, which was geared towards a high-income economy, was a move in the right direction and Malaysians were awaiting the Government’s initiatives in achieving this.

He pointed out that the depression of wages in the country for the last 30 years had further widened the gap between the rich and the poor and caused uneven distribution of wealth.

Consequently, he said the middle- and lower-income group compromised on health, education and quality of life. He said these problems would eventually result in social ills.

“The intended abolition of subsidies will actually impose a financial catastrophe on millions of Malaysian workers,” he said.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/5/31/nation/6370592&sec=nation

One million free laptops for poor students

31/05/2010

RAUB: One million laptop computers will be given out free to poor students of secondary schools throughout the country to increase broadband penetration in the country.

Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chairman Tan Sri Khalid Ramli said the Government was targetting a penetration level of 50% by the end of the year.

“At the moment, the country has achieved 36% broadband penetration,” he said after attending the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day celebration in the Tersang 3 Felda scheme near here yesterday.

Virtually checking it out: Sharkar (left) checking out the speed of the broadband connection as Khalid (second from right) and others look on at the Felda scheme in Raub Sunday. — Bernama

The event was launched by Pahang Information, Science, Technology and Innovation Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Sharkar Shamsudin.

As for Pahang, Khalid said the broadband penetration so far was 19%, lower than the targetted 32% .

He said as telecommunication development was vital for any country’s development, various programmes such as the Broadband Carnival in Tersang 3 Felda had been organised by the Government to expose rural people to the benefits of the Internet and information technology.

“some rural and remote areas have no broadband coverage. That is why we have set up community broadband centres which provide Internet facility to the local community.”

Khalid said 37 such centres had been established in Pahang and 8,000 people have registered with these centres.

The MCMC will also build 1,000 telecommunication towers in the country including 207 in Pahang. – Bernama

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/5/31/nation/6372101&sec=nation

Kampus baru MSU

Oleh Nor Azma Laila
norazma@bharian.com.my
2010/05/31

Kompleks RM500 juta di Shah Alam mula dibina Julai

MANAGEMENT & Science University (MSU) memulakan beroperasi di kampus barunya yang dibangunkan dengan kos pembangunan keseluruhan bernilai RM500,000 mulai Julai ini.

Presiden MSU/Kumpulan Kolej PTPL, Prof Datuk Wira Mohd Shukri Ab Yajid, berkata kampus yang terletak di Shah Alam itu dibangunkan menerusi dua fasa pembinaan. Katanya, kos pembangunan fasa satu membabitkan perbelanjaan bernilai RM300 juta dan siap April tahun depan manakala fasa dua bernilai RM200 pula siap sepenuhnya menjelang 2012.

Beliau berkata, fasa satu merangkumi Pusat Islam, Dewan Canselor, Menara Sains, Blok Akademik, Menara Pengurusan, U Plaza, U Square dan U Kafe.

“Pembangunan fasa dua pula membabitkan pembinaan hospital pengajar, hotel dan kondominium bagi kemudahan penginapan pelajar.

“Hampir keseluruhan pembangunan fasa satu berjaya disiapkan kecuali Pusat Islam yang dijangka memulakan operasinya Julai ini, manakala Menara Pengurusan pula siap menjelang April 2011.
“Kami sudah mula berpindah secara berperingkat ke kampus baru bermula Mei lalu, perpindahan sepenuhnya dijangka Julai ini,” katanya ketika berucap pada majlis menandatangani memorandum persefahaman (MoU) biasiswa Berita Harian/MSU/PTPL di Shah Alam, baru-baru ini.

Majlis pemeteraian MoU disempurnakan Pengarang Kumpulan Berita Harian/Berita Minggu, Datuk Mior Kamarul Shahid dan Mohd Shukri bagi pihak MSU/-Kumpulan Kolej PTPL.

MoU disaksikan Pengarang Eksekutif Rencana Berita Harian, Norhayati Md Said dan Naib Presiden Akademik dan Operasi MSU/Kumpulan Kolej PTPL, Prof Datuk Dr Junainah Abd Hamid.

Mengulas biasiswa Berita Harian/MSU/PTPL yang sudah masuk tahun ketujuh, Mohd Shukri berkata, peruntukan kali ini lebih tinggi iaitu RM1,175 juta berbanding RM1,512 juta, tahun lalu.

“Tawaran ini mencerminkan komitmen kami meningkatkan kualiti pendidikan masyarakat selain mengurangkan beban pelajar cemerlang meneruskan pengajian masing-masing.

“Pemberian biasiswa bermula 2004 dengan peruntukan RM383,000 diteruskan diteruskan setiap tahun dengan peruntukan tertinggi tahun ini membabitkan 54 penerima.

“Saya harap pembiayaan ini dapat meningkatkan kecemerlangan pendidikan tinggi negara selain melahirkan modal insan lebih berdaya saing,” katanya.

Pelajar boleh mengemukakan permohonan pembiayaan itu dengan mendapatkan borang permohonan di pejabat Pendaftar MSU atau cawangan PTPL terdekat.

Sebarang pertanyaan boleh hubungi MSU atau PTPL menerusi talian 03-55106868 atau 03-55136688 serta melayari laman web http://www.msu.edu.my atau www.ptpl.edu.my

http://www.bharian.com.my/bharian/articles/KampusbaruMSU/Article