All Rounder-Exploring

Tamil Migration - (1830-1950)

2010-10-25T23:34:00.003+08:00

Proclamation of Independence

2010-10-23T22:10:00.002+08:00

NATIONAL PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

2010-10-17T14:28:00.001+08:00

NATIONAL PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Education in Malaysia is an on-going effort towards developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner, so as to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced and harmonious based on a firm belief in and devotion to God. Such an effort is designed to produce Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable and competent, who possess high moral standards and who are responsible and capable of achieving a high level of personal well being as well as being able to contribute to the harmony and betterment of the family, society and the nation at large.

Beautiful Sunrise and Sunset.

2010-02-28T17:20:00.003+08:00

Observe this Picture Carefully!

2010-02-28T17:14:00.003+08:00

Pearson & Penguin Books Warehouse Sale 2009‏

2009-09-27T20:27:00.001+08:00

Chinese Kali Amman, Ipoh, Perak Tong

2009-08-08T01:15:00.010+08:00

Perak Tong

12.8 metre sitting Buddha

A Majestic looking Goddess, in the form of Kali

Perak Tong is a limestone cave temple located at Jalan Kuala Kangsar. This
temple houses over 40 Buddha statues, the centre piece being a 12.8m high
sitting Buddha. Beyond the main altar, there is a passage which leads into the
interior of the cave. After a steep climb of 385 steps, the cave opens again to
reveal a wonderful view of the surrounding countryside. Visitors will also be
fascinated by the beautiful mural paintings of the cave's walls.

Historical Sites Perak

~ Rest in Peace Michael Jackson ~

2009-07-03T00:22:00.002+08:00

MJ lived for his fans till the end...often misunderstood, he dedicated his mind BODY and soul for music and for his beloved fans the world over... Alas, it took his life! He gave himself up completely for the happiness of others! A true disciple of love devoted to his passion in a cruel world. He will always be remembered for the best of things...MJ will undoubtedly transcend time and matter! –RIP-

Racial Slur Legalised!

2009-05-17T10:18:00.003+08:00

Agence France-Presse - 5/15/2009 4:47 AM GMT

Malaysian court allows use of racial slur in dictionary

A Malaysian court has said the use of a perceived racial slur in aMalay-language dictionary to describe the country's minority Indians ispermissible, according to a report Friday.The High Court allowed the use of the word 'keling', generally considered offensive by ethnic Indians, dismissing an appeal by an Indian Muslim group that had sued the government's language institute over its inclusion in theirdictionary, the Star newspaper said.The group had sought to remove the word from the dictionary and wanted it dropped from the names of buildings and roads, arguing that 'keling' wasinsulting and degrading to the Indian Muslim community, the paper reported.

The judge said the language institute was only carrying out its statutory dutyby including the word in the dictionary and that the constitutional right tonon-discrimination referred to individuals rather than institutions.The word 'keling' was originally used by locals to describe Indian migrants inthe 19th century and was used on signs and as place names by British colonial authorities.However, it is resented by some in Malaysia because it has long been used in a derogatory manner to refer to Indians.Issues related to religion, language and race are sensitive matters in Malaysia.About 60 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims. The country's minority Chinese and Indians are mostly Buddhists, Hindus orChristians.Ethnic Indians -- many of whom are descendants of labourers brought over byBritish colonial rulers in the 1800s -- complain they are marginalised in termsof education, wealth and opportunities.

< http://news.my.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3314925 >

HUMAN SKELETON OF PHENOMENAL SIZE DISCOVERED IN INDIA

2009-05-16T19:12:00.007+08:00

From Newsjharkhand.com

Recently a human skeleton of phenomenal size has been discovered during
exploration activity somewhere in Northern India.

Exploration activity was taken up by an International Research Organisation
with the help of Indian army. The exact place of discovery has not been
disclosed yet due to security purpose. But the reports coming indicate of desert
area. Sands and sediments are known to be a good host as preservative of such
types of remains.

Seeing the conditions of the less damaged weathered bones it can be
inferred that the man either died or buried in the sand near the stream or in a
stream bed which may have flowed from the area in the geological past and soon
become buried in the sediments or it may be recent.

According to the article published by G. Subramanium in
Hindu Voice, the exploration team also found tablets with inscriptions that
stated that our God of Indian mythological yore, "Brahma" had created people of
phenomenal size the like of which He has not created since. They were very tall,
big and very powerful, such that they could put their arms around a tree trunk
and uproot it. They were created to bring order among us since we were always
fighting with each other. Later these people who were given all the power,
turned against all our Gods and transgressed beyond all boundaries set. As a
result they were destroyed by God Shiva. The Exploration team believes these to
be the remains of those people.

This mammoth skeleton reminds us about the Bhima and
Hindimba son Ghatotkach of Mahabarata and the found skeleton might have been
carrying the genes of those people.

Visit < http://newsjharkhand.com/National.asp?Details=180 > for the complete article.

The Mystery of the "Kasi Water Fall"?

2009-05-11T01:36:00.007+08:00

During my recent trip to Mount Kledang with an Uncle of mine,we noticed a strange rock formation at Kasi's Fall. It stood out out from the rest of the rocks as they seemed like man made bricks or cut stones bound strongly with a cement-like substance and to make things even more interesting was the fact that there are objects embedded in these rocks which look like iron rods.To us they looked like rocks bound tightly with some kind of metal object which jutted out slightly.It looked like the foundation of some ancient construction.These rocks and "iron" appeared to have firmly stuck on to each other, almost as if it were the base of some concrete structure? Perhaps this site needs to be examined properly by professionals.Could it be ramnants of something ancient or is it simply something more contemporary??? :)

Kasi's Fall - Mount Kledang, Ipoh

2009-05-11T01:22:00.007+08:00

Kasi's Fall was named after Mr Kasi, a grand-uncle of mine who discovered it during one of the earliest expeditions into the heart of Mount Keledang.He was an engineer in the team that built the road into the mount which goes right up to the summit.

Mount Kledang - Ipoh

2009-05-11T01:13:00.006+08:00

The Retreat :)

2009-04-13T20:56:00.013+08:00

Here are some pictures from my brief visit to the Lambak Mountain in Kluang, Johore :)

Russian and US Satalites Collide!

2009-02-13T00:12:00.002+08:00

Debris From Space Collision Poses Threat to Other Satellites

By Tariq Malik
Senior Editorposted: 12 February 200910:17 am ET

Scientists at NASA are keeping close tabs on two clouds of debris from Tuesday collision between U.S. and Russian satellites to determine how much of a risk they pose to the agency's Earth-watching spacecraft and, possibly, the Hubble Space Telescope.

The rare collision between a U.S. Iridium 33 communications satellite and the defunct Russian military communications satellite Cosmos 2251 is unprecedented, marking the first time two intact satellites orbiting Earth have accidentally crashed into and obliterated one another, NASA officials said. Their smash-up created two large clouds of space debris that are currently being tracked by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network.

The debris poses a greater risk to science satellites than to the International Space Station, which is currently home to two American astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut, since the collision occurred 490 miles (790 km) above Siberia. The space station flies in an orbit about 220 miles (354 km) above Earth.

"This is like over 400 kilometers above the station, so we do believe that some of the debris is going down through station altitude. But it's a very, very small minority of the debris clouds," said Nicholas Johnson, chief scientist of NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "For robotic spacecraft at higher altitudes, the answer's a little bit different. So one by one we'll be looking at those."

Earth observations satellites, such as NASA's Aqua and Aura spacecraft in orbit 438 miles (705 km) above Earth, are particularly vulnerable - though the risk of an impact is still low - and there's another satellite in a 497-mile (800-km) orbit just above the impact level, Johnson told SPACE.com late Wednesday. The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth at about 372 miles (600 km), Johnson said.

"That's a little bit farther away, but it's a lot bigger too. All that matters," Johnson said of Hubble. "It's about how close you are to the debris cloud and how big you are."
It will be weeks before the U.S. Space Surveillance Network pins down an accurate count of the number of individual debris pieces created in the event, but unofficial estimates put the damage somewhere in the 500 count. The U.S. Space Surveillance Network is currently tracking more than 18,000 separate man-made objects and debris at any given time, officials with the U.S. Strategic Command said Wednesday.

"This is the first time we've had two intact spacecraft collide, so it is a big deal," Johnson said. "But you know, it's not unexpected."
Johnson said that some satellites fly within a few hundred meters of each other every day. Each year, there are about six instances in which old satellites and satellite parts break apart in what scientists call "fragmentation events." Satellite components or spent rocket stages have accidentally collided three times before in the last 20 years.

In June 1997, an unmanned Russian Progress cargo ship slammed into Russia's Mir Space Station, damaging a solar array and radiator, and punching a hole in the ship's hull that depressurized one of its modules. Unlike Tuesday's collision, that Progress spacecraft was deliberately heading for Mir, where it was expected to dock in a rendezvous system test.
"This was going to happen," Johnson said of Tuesday's accidental collision. "There was no doubt that it was going to happen."

Johnson said the chances of a satellite being damaged by the debris from Tuesday's collision are admittedly low, but as the collision itself proved, such things can happen. He does not expect to see reports of many secondary impacts from the event.

He pointed out that when China intentionally destroyed one of its aging weather satellites during a 2007 anti-satellite test, the impact created a cloud of more 2,500 pieces of debris.
"We don't know if any of them have hit any other satellite, alive or dead," Johnson said of the Chinese test debris. "So the odds are still very small, but they're bigger today than they were two days ago."

< http://www.space.com/news/090212-satellite-collision-update.html >

Can We Develop Superhuman Senses???

2009-02-08T21:42:00.002+08:00

BLIND British children are to be taught a pioneering bat-style echolocation technique to visualise their surroundings.

The children are learning how to build up detailed images of the world around them by clicking their tongue and interpreting the sound as it echoes back.

The technique is used by animals such as bats, dolphins and whales to navigate and hunt in the dark.

Celebrating a Revolutionary - Charles Darwin!

2009-02-08T21:28:00.003+08:00

By RICHARD INGHAN

The world marks the 200th birthday of the man who cast out the human species from the epicentre of the natural world, and discovered a fundamental law of nature.
TWO hundred years ago, in a wealthy household in rural England, a child was born who, in a quiet, dogged, and utterly peaceful way, was destined to become one of the greatest revolutionaries who lived.

Armed just with a pen, Charles Darwin reforged our concept of nature and humanity’s place in it, ignited a social debate that blazes to this day, and shook the foundations of religions.
He bequeathed a theoretical legacy – the principle of evolution by natural selection and the origins of man – that has not only survived assault by Creationists and other critics but also remains a pillar of modern science....

Lunar Eclipse!

2009-02-07T23:20:00.003+08:00

Eclipse of the moon this Monday

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians will get the chance to observe a penumbral eclipse of the moon for four hours on Monday starting from 8.39pm, said the National Space Agency (Angkasa).In a statement, the agency said that the phenomenon would be easily visible as 89.9% of the moon’s disc would be in the shadow of the earth’s penumbra.Members of the public are invited to witness the phenomenon via telescope at the National Planetarium or live via its website http://www.angkasa.gov.my/ from 8.30pm until midnight. — Bernama

Interesting Facts on Malaysian Politics!

2009-02-07T22:51:00.008+08:00

In Parliament

Penang State Assembly

malaysianindian1.blogspot.com

Selangor State Assembly

malaysianindian1.blogspot.com

Perak State Assembly

malaysianindian1.blogspot.com

The Revival Of An Old Beast!

2009-01-31T11:05:00.004+08:00

Thousands of years after the last mammoth disappeared across the face of the earth, scientists have recently sequenced 50 percent of the beast’s nuclear genome. This is the first time that so much genetic material of an extinct creature has been retrieved. This has provided insight into the evolutionary history of mammoths. But most interestingly it has brought scientists a step closer towards being able to resurrect a mammoth.

Thus far the mammoth genome exists only in bits and pieces. With the complete genome of the mammoth, scientists may one day be able to bring the mammoth back. It is estimated that around 400,000 changes to the Mammoth’s Genome is needed to produce an animal that looks a lot like a mammoth; an exact replica would require several million. So watch out for a Mammoth coming to a Zoo near you.

The Human Body!

2009-01-15T12:56:00.004+08:00

According to yoga, the human being is composed of several concentric
bodies, or sheaths of energy‑ consciousness, from gross to subtle levels.
1. The physical body: the material, visible part of the human being,
including the body consciousness at the cellular level which acts without any
mental will of our own or even against that will; it has emerged from the
Inconscient, the inverse reproduction of the Supreme Superconscient.
2. The vital body: the life nature made up of desires, sensations,
feelings, passions, energies of action, will of desire, possessive and other
related instincts, anger, fear, greed, lust, sorrow, joy, hatred, repulsion,
pride, small likings and dislikings, etc.
3. The mental body (manas): sense‑mind; that part which has to do with
cognition, perception through the senses, the reactions of thoughts to things,
the putting out of mental forces for realization of an idea; the expression of
ideas as through speech.
4. The intellectual body (buddhi): reasoning‑mind; that which analyzes,
synthesizes and constructs ideas from signs, indications and gathered data; mind
is a subordinate power of Supermind which takes its stand in the standpoint of
division, actually forgetful here of the oneness behind, though able to return
to it by reillumination from the Supramental (Truth‑Consciousness).
5. The spiritual body: the eternal true being or Self of the individual;
the spiritual consciousness is that in which we enter into the awareness of
self, the Spirit, the Divine and is able to see in all things their essential
Reality and the play of forces and phenomena as proceeding from essential
Reality.

(Aurobindo, 1978, pp. 10, 55‑91, 147‑148, 160, 177, 198, in Babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition,p.21)

The Fight Against the Terror of Chewing Gum !!!

2009-01-09T15:07:00.003+08:00

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The country that gave the world chewing gum is getting gummed up: The average square yard (meter) of Mexico City sidewalk has 70 blobs of discarded chew.

Now Mexico is responding with innovations ranging from expensive sidewalk steam-cleaners to natural chewing gum that breaks down quickly. It's even telling its citizens (gulp!) to swallow their gum.

more from AP

Key to Finding a Rewarding Career

2009-01-07T09:54:00.005+08:00

After going through many career websites I found why do so many young people, upon graduating, have such a hard time finding a rewarding job or a calling?

Firstly to find your calling you need to know what you like to do. But by the time you graduate, schooling has eroded your natural sense for detecting things which genuinely excite you. Think about it - You have just spent the last 17 or so years in a formal schooling environment non-stop. Since young an authority figure has always been telling you what to read, study, and write and then monitoring all that you have done. Most of the time you are answering questions rather than asking them.

Formal schooling has a tendency to promote breadth and not depth. How many times have you given up your interest of reading further into a module you enjoy due to the workload of the other modules? How many times have you not pursued your passion, in fear of not making the grades for the rest of the modules?

Do you remember the times when your parents reviewed your report cards, telling you to improve on the Cs but never telling you to focus on the subjects you got As for? In school you're taught to pursue a broad area of studies and not thought to specialise. But in the real world only those who can discover and build upon a couple of core natural strengths and interests are rewarded.

Therefore to conclude, formal schooling dulls one's exploration of natural interests. So ask yourself what you naturally enjoy and then pursue it vigorously. This so called unusual behaviour may not go down too well with the people around you. Unfortunately, asking yourself this very question is the key to a rewarding real-world career! So you decide - be pretty good at lots of things or be extraordinarily good at one thing.

The Battle for Tigerland!

2009-01-04T10:37:00.015+08:00

The Region Previously Controlled by the Tamil Tigers

Area taken over by the Army in the recent

military offensive

The Last Bastion of the Tigers

English Literature and The Creation of a Malaysian Education System (1951 – 1979)

2008-12-26T14:22:00.004+08:00

Tracing the Source:
The creation of a Malaysian Education System (1951 – 1979)

Since Independence English Literature has continued to lose its recognition as a vital tool in the nation-building process due to a greater emphasis on the national language. The post-May 13 climate further reduced the significance of English, and needless to say Children’s Literature in English.However, in an ongoing research which i am involved in, we hope to highlight the great potential and impact Children’s Literature in English could have as a nation-building tool in a highly pluralized post-colonial Malaysian society, thus inspiring the quest for an identity in a globalized era.

The earliest documents which form the backbone in the creation of a National Education System, dates back to the early 50’s.The entire study of the various education reports begins from the Colonial Central Advisory Committee on Education (Pre-1957) right up to the Post-Colonial Education Committee of the Ministry of Education (Post-1957) covering an entire decade. This is with reference to the Study of the Fenn-Wu Report on Chinese Education and the Barnes Report on Malay Education in 1951 and subsequent Razak and Rahman Talib reports which were published in 1956 and 1960 respectively. Finally in 1979 the Mahathir Report or the Cabinet Committee Report reevaluated the entire national education system in Malaysia giving it a new look. The committee begun its work in 1974 and published its report in 1979. These reports were the foundations upon which a comprehensive Malaysian Education System came into being.The primary purpose of examining these reports is to examine the direct and indirect effect of subsequent policies towards Children’s Literature in English, if any.

Mileage Boost

2008-12-20T10:26:00.006+08:00

Investigators at Temple University have thinned fuel by attaching an electrically charged tube to a diesel engine’s fuel line near the fuel injector. This is possible thanks to a well-known effect in which electric fields reduce the viscosity of a liquid. Reduced fuel viscosity allows much smaller droplets to be injected into the engine, leading to more efficient combustion. Road tests have shown electric fields to boost a car’s gas mileage by up to 20 percent. Expect the device to be in all kinds of internal-combustion engines in the near future.

View your Dreams on a Computer!

2008-12-13T14:09:00.002+08:00

Dreams Imaged, Scientists Claim

Robert Roy Britt

Editorial Director

LiveScience.com – Thu Dec 11, 2:15 pm ET

Japanese researchers say they've imaged thoughts and dreams and displayed them on a computer screen.

At the web site of the journal Neuron, where the findings are to be published, the researchers summarize their work: "The results suggest that our approach provides an effective means to read out complex perceptual states from brain activity."

Brain imaging is nothing new. And the images are reportedly very simple, but the researchers claim the technique could lead to the ability to unlock the secrets of dreams.

"By applying this technology, it may become possible to record and replay subjective images that people perceive like dreams," the scientists are quoted as saying in The Telegraph of London. In one experiment, test subjects were shown the six letters of the word "neuron," and the subsequent brain activity was used to reconstruct the letters on a screen.

Scientists mostly agree that dreaming happens during the phase called Rapid Eye Movement (REM). Some researchers think you dream about tasks and emotions that were not dealt with fully, and that dreaming can help solidify thoughts and memories.

Even animals dream. And some people think they can control their dreams. The jury is still out on that, but studies show that some dreamers can communicate with researchers during a dream.

Population of South East Asia!

2008-12-05T11:00:00.004+08:00

The Pie chart below shows the distribution of population among the nations of Southeast Asia and among the islands of Indonesia

The approximate population of South East Asia as of 2004 is estimated to be about 568,300,000 people.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia

The Next Generation of Mobile Phones!

2008-12-02T22:53:00.004+08:00

The Nanotechnology concept Morph

Introducing NOKIA'S Morph Phone conceived through nanotechnology:

Flexible materials, transparent electronics, self-cleaning surfaces, ability to observe local environment and harvest energy.

PIKOM PC Fair 2008 (III)

2008-11-26T00:51:00.003+08:00

PIKOM PC Fair 2008 (III) - Dates and Venues

5 - 7 December 2008 (11:00 am - 9:00 pm)

-Penang International Sports Arena, Penang - Jalan Tun Dr Awang, 11900 Relau
-Sabah Trade Centre, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah - Jalan Istiadat, Teluk Likas, 88400 Kota Kinabalu
-Central Square, Sungai Petani, Kedah - Jalan Kampung Baru, 08000 Sungai Petani
-Dewan SJK(C) Yuk Choy, Ipoh, Perak - 195, Jalan Sultan Iskandar, 30000 Ipoh
-Berjaya Megamall, Kuantan, Pahang - Jalan Tun Ismail, Sri Dagangan, 25000 Kuantan

12 - 14 December 2008 (11:00 am - 9:00 pm)

-KL Convention Centre, Kuala Lumpur - Kuala Lumpur City Centre, 50888 Kuala Lumpur
-Mahkota Parade Melaka, Melaka - Jalan Merdeka, 75000 Bandar Hilir
-Dewan Suarah, Bintulu, Sarawak - Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi, 97008 Bintulu

-Batu Pahat (BP) Mall, Batu Pahat, Johor - Jalan Kluang, 83000 Batu Pahat

19 - 21 December 2008 (11:00 am - 9:00 pm)

-Persada Johor International Convention Centre, Johor Bahru - Jalan Abdullah
Ibrahim,80000 Johor Bahru
-Dewan 2020, Kangar, Perlis - 01000, Kangar

-Dewan Tunku Ibrahim Ismail, Kluang, Johor - 86000, Kluang

Please contact the PC Fair Team at +603 7955 2922 or email us at pcfair@pikom.org.my for further information.

More

Japan's Untouchables!

2008-11-20T22:44:00.002+08:00

Social Outcasts

By TIM LARIMER and TOKO SEKIGUCHI Wednesday, Mar. 28, 2001

They are Japan's untouchables. A minority group discriminated against while living on the fringes of society.
They are burakumin, or "village people." They may look like other Japanese, speak the same language, eat the same foods and wear the same clothes, but prejudice is always close. And the absence of any information -- and fear of discussion -- about this invisible group serves to perpetuate the prejudice, leaving people to spout untruths and rumors: that burakumin are physically deformed, for example.
The burakumin existed, informally, as a social class as far back as the 6th century, but they were shunted to the bottom of a five-tier caste system during the Tokugawa period (1600-1867), also known as the Edo period. Considered social outcasts, they were typically butchers, tanners and waste-handlers. Japan's Meiji transformation in the late 19th century opened up the country to the outside world, yet the burakumin still exist -- as does the discrimination they suffer.
In Japan, few people are willing to talk about the burakumin. The mainstream media go to great lengths to avoid any discussion of the group, and code words are more the norm. An article about someone thought to be a burakumin, for example, might describe him as someone who likes to attend the dog races. Why the queasiness? The burakumin scare many people.
Justified or not, some burakumin have a reputation for responding to public discussion about them, whether it's on television or in a magazine, with behavior that borders on harassment. "When I talked about burakumin on a TV show," says one reporter, who, predictably, doesn't want his name used, "the station was flooded with calls, day and night, from people wanting my home phone number."
There is one place, however, where talk about the burakumin is freewheeling and unfettered. That place is the Internet. Here, of course, people don't worry about a backlash because they can be anonymous. Channel 2 is a website that hosts many discussion groups -- with topics ranging from food recipes to erotica -- including one on the burakumin. Messages posted on the site include "Tell me the names of burakumin in the entertainment industry" and "Buraku can't intimidate me." There has also been a lengthy discussion about political heavyweight Hiromu Nonaka's burakumin ties.
Says Shigeshi Tabata, who runs an independent, on-line watchdog group called Network Against Discrimination and for Research on Human Rights: "The reason people want this information is to discriminate against people. Policing what is said on the Internet is of course difficult -- and controversial. Tabata has contacted Channel 2's Webmaster about the burakumin postings that he believes to be inflammatory. "I believe he is aware of the problem," Tabata says. "But that was in 1999, and the burakumin names are still posted. Because people can post their comments anonymously, they aren't accountable. Monitoring bulletin boards is an eternal cat-and-mouse chase."
(In the 1960s and '70s, pamphlets were published that listed the addresses and neighborhoods known to be inhabited by burakumin. Family names were also printed. These pamphlets were used by companies, including some of Japan's blue-chip businesses, to weed out burakumin when hiring employees, and by families to investigate the background of potential husbands and wives for their children. In 1975, Japan banned those publications, but the lists are now are popping up on the Channel 2 bulletin boards.)
Hiroyuki Nishimura, a 24-year-old computer consultant, is Channel 2's Webmaster. The site, which launched in May 1999, gets some 15 million hits a day, he says. Hiroyuki is defensive about the material on the site, and says it is impossible for him to police every message that is posted. "Right now, very few things on the Internet are regulated by Japanese law," he says. "For instance, it's not illegal for high school girls to post their cell phone numbers on-line for 'enjo kosai' (teenage prostitution). We actively delete these. But for other things, we don't have the manpower to be actively looking for offensive or unethical and immoral postings." Besides, he says, he is uncomfortable with the notion of censorship. "If you regulate what is said on places like Channel 2, that's fascism. I just provide people a place to discuss issues."
On the one hand, discussion about the burakumin is a good thing. Nowhere in Japan are people allowed to confront stereotypes or even ask questions about a group of people that rights groups say number as many as 3 million. On the other hand, unfortunately much of the discussion is nothing more than hate-mongering.
Japan's government has passed laws to end discrimination against the group, and has set up special programs to improve burakumin neighborhoods, and improve their children's education. The prejudice, though, persists. "Around me, day to day, it doesn't seem anyone discriminates against me," says Hiroshi Kanto, a burakumin in Kyoto. "But then one day my daughter came home from elementary school and said some other kids' parents told them not to play with her because she is burakumin."
The question now is whether the Internet revolution will help, or hurt the group. Channel 2's Nishimura is optimistic. "One of the discussion threads was a survey about discrimination people experienced, or from the other side, that they imposed," he says. "You can't do that anywhere else but on an anonymous bulletin board. It's the only place for these two opposing voices to communicate."

time.com

Caste and the question of Identity (Part I)

2008-11-19T00:42:00.001+08:00

Caste and the question of Identity I

Indianness

The term untouchables have long been associated with the caste system of Indian culture as a reference to the class of people at the very bottom of the social hierarchy. While extreme interpretation of this system is beginning to fade away due to the changing times and education which has become the main propellant in empowering those from the lowest rung of the social ladder, there is still a large consciousness among the masses of their cast and creed and the seemingly permanent social distinction. The Indian caste system is deeply routed in the ancestral occupational attachment which has sadly become some kind of social imprisonment for those who are associated to the most “unclean” or dirty jobs thus permanently condemned being labeled as outcasts.

Having said that, it is natural for an outsider to assume that in modern times caste would no longer be relevant for someone who becomes empowered to finally become independent by virtue of his education and profession to break away from such social imprisonment. Apparently that is not the case, as there is also a large fellowship who prefer to retain that identity regardless of caste. Even the so called lower classes take pride in their identity and form such comradeship which is reflected in the politics of today.

In an age of globalization and cultural plurality, we somehow find people who firmly hold on to their castes as a vital aspect of their identity. In a multi-layered atmosphere of Indianness, the question of “who am I?” can never have a simple “Indian” for an answer and the whole concept of Indian is corrupt; the entity having sprung out of an artificial union ; a byproduct of a colonial past. Therefore most would generally be linguistically and regionally divided into the almost countless numbers of languages and dialects they belong to, such as, a few among others, the Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam,Telugu, Hindi,Punjabi and Bengali speakers. Their Lingua-Regional identity comes first and then comes the question of caste and creed before even thinking of Indianness. However the term has gained much popularity abroad among the Indian Diaspora, for this term itself is founded upon that very conception and best reflects the identities of Cultures from the Sub-continent. Caste, while being a sensitive issue these days, is extremely important even for those whose sensitivities are most affected .On the other hand, the downtrodden while denouncing it entirely would also uphold it at some time or other.. It should be noted that caste based societies and associations are thriving in Malaysia with approximately 100 registered bodies.

South Indian Sir Names are most certainly a reflection of castes which they belong to and this could explain the reason behind Indians who don’t possess second names Most Indians would not want to be labeled as an advocate of the caste system. However, there are people who are proud of their ancestry and carry the family name (caste) as their sir-name. But the most unfortunate are those who do not want to be ostracized by society thus keep it a secret. To end in a positive note, I am very pleased to say that the new generation of Indians in Malaysia regardless of caste does not emphasize caste as much as their ancestors did with reference to sir-names.

< The Origins of Silat >

2008-11-18T22:30:00.002+08:00

Source

The Beginning

INDONESIA

Maha Guru Victor de Thouars, interviewed by reporter Steve Gartin, for Fighting Knives/Street Fighter magazine.

Excerpts :

Victor: By the end of the second century A.D., India had already established trade routes to Indonesia. By the year 125 A.D., influences from Indian Hindu/Buddhist missionarys was beginning to be felt in Indonesia.

Victor: Indonesian martial arts was very crude and unrefined during that time period, followed by a period of refinement. With the later Influences from India, Indonesia established a system of fighting unique to Indonesia.

Victor: The martial arts the Chinese saw in Indonesia were referred to as "Silate". The indonesian able to absorb and adapt to other cultures, took many words from those cultures and integrated them into their language. This was done with the word "Silate", and was changed to Silat, so in short the word "Silat" is from Chinese origin, not the action".

Victor: Martial arts in Indonesia and China began to develop separately, but both were influenced by the buddhist monks who traveled from India to Indonesia and China during those years".

http://www.kuntaosilat.com/victorfc.htm

General

Silat is an umbrella term for a number of martial art forms originating from the countries of the Malay Archipelago. This art is widely known in Indonesia and Malaysia but can also be found in varying degrees among the Malay-affiliated communities in Brunei, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia. The art has also reached Europe, and is especially popular in the Netherlands and France. There are hundreds of aliran (styles) ranging from animalistic to human styles and schools or perguruan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silat

Spiritual

To create a balanced person, Silat also focuses on the spiritual aspect. The aim of the practitioner is to free oneself of worldly conceptions and realize that our reality is an illusion. This was originally based on the meditative practices of Hinduism, Buddhism, Kejawen and local forms of animism which is still evident in the older styles today. The later introduction of Islam into Southeast Asia brought influences of Muslim philosophy while retaining traditional Malay elements such as moksa and the Javanese concept of kebatinan in which the exponent searches for the harmony within themselves. Nowadays, spirituality in silat is largely based on tasawwuf (knowledge of Islamic esoteric teaching). In this way, the exponent learns to respect life and his surroundings and see it as a gift from God.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silat_Melayu

Cure for HIV ???

2008-11-14T00:02:00.004+08:00

German hematologists Eckhard Thiel, left, and Gero Huetter of Berlin's Charite Medical University
attend a news conference about a successful treatment of a HIV infected patient in Berlin, on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

Doctors in Germany say a patient appears to have been cured of HIV by a bone marrow transplant from a donor who had a genetic resistance to the virus.
The researchers in Berlin said the man, who suffered from leukaemia and HIV, had shown no sign of either disease since the transplant two years ago.
But they stressed it was an unusual case which needed further investigation.
Experts said the result may boost interest in gene therapy for HIV.
Berlin's Charite clinic said the 42-year-old patient was an American living in Berlin, but the man has not been identified.

About one in 1,000 Europeans and Americans have a resistance to HIV

more from the BBC

Entrepreneurship Seminar

2008-11-12T20:19:00.001+08:00

Seminar Invitation!

2008-11-11T19:03:00.000+08:00

A great Pioneer of Malaya!

2008-11-10T00:11:00.012+08:00

An Early Nation Builder Re-Examined for his Great Contribution

to Malaysian Society!

K. Thamboosamy Pillay

K. Thamboosamy Pillay was a prominent Malaysian of Tamil origin during the pre-independence years. He was considered the leader of the Tamil community. He was a wealthy businessman, tin miner, money lender and government contractor.Thamboosamy was one of the founders and one of the original Trustees of Victoria Institution as well as the founder of the Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur and the Batu Caves Murugan Temple. A Sivan Temple in Klang is also said to have been built on land which was owned by his family but later donated to the temple committee.

Born in Singapore in 1850, K. Thamboosamy Pillay received his early education at Raffles Institution. He sailed to Klang in 1875 with James Guthrie Davidson, when the latter was appointed Malaya's first British Resident. Prior to that, he had been a clerk in the legal firm in which Davidson was a partner.

He was later transferred to the Treasury where he eventually became chief clerk and acted as State Treasurer on a few occasions. He was sent to India by the Malayan Government to bring over the first batch of Indian immigrants for the Railway and Public Works. Thamboosamy resigned from Government service in the 1880s and, going into partnership with Towkay Loke Yew, managed the New Tin Mining Company in Rawang. They were the first to use electric pumps for mining in Malaya.

A Justice of Peace and member of the prestigious KL Sanitary Board, Thamboosamy was the acknowledged leader of the Tamil community in Malaya, especially in Kuala Lumpur.His other business interests included coffee planting, real estate and construction. He was a member of both the Selangor Club and the Turf Club and owned several horses. Thamboosamy was one of the founders and one of the original Trustees of Victoria Institution. One of the sports houses in VI is named after him. His son, K. T. Ganapathy Pillay, was a Victorian and served as the second President of the VIOBA.

The Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur was founded by Thamboosamy in 1873 and was initially used as a private shrine by the Pillai family. The family threw open the temple doors to the public in the late 1920s and eventually handed the management of the temple over to a board of trustees. This is the oldest functioning Hindu temple in Malaysia. It is also reputed to be the richest in the country. The Temple was originally sited somewhere near the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station. It shifted to its present location along Jalan Tun H.S. Lee (next to KL's Chinatown) in 1885.

He was also said to have discovered Batu Caves, with its vel-shaped entrance, and was inspired to start a Hindu temple in devotion to Lord Muruga in 1888. The first Thaipoosam festival in Malaysia was also started by Thamboosamy Pillay in 1891.

So great was Thamboosamy's philanthropic spirit, that he donated money to whoever needed it, regardless of race or religion. He contributed a sizeable amount of money to the building fund of St. Mary's Cathedral, Kuala Lumpur in 1893, despite being a Hindu.

Thamboosamy died in 1902 in

Singapore

, where he had gone to attend a meeting at the Singapore Turf Club.

A street in the Chow Kit district and a Tamil primary school in Sentul are also named in his memory.

Besides The Victoria Institution Web Page, Wikipedia and Bernama, all information on K Thamboosamy Pillai that I have posted have been verified/obtained first hand from one of his great grandsons who has inherited and collected a vast treasure of historical documents on his great great grand father’s legacy. Having said that, I am pleased to say that he is an important forefather of our nation who helped lay the foundation for a better future. Needless to say,he should always be remembered for his service to the Indian Community and Pre-Independence Malaya. However,the above mentioned is only a small portion of his undeniable contribution as one of the earliest leaders of the Indian Tamil Community to a young Nation in the making.

http://www.viweb.freehosting.net/Houses.htm

http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=160815

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._Thamboosamy

Ancient Tamil Script found in Egypt!

2008-11-08T22:06:00.003+08:00

Source : French Institute of Pondicherry

World Sight Day - Cataract Surgeries!

2008-11-05T00:02:00.000+08:00

Free Cataract Surgeries for the underprivileged

Every five seconds one person in the world goes needlessly blind. World Sight Day was created in 1998 to spotlight the importance or eradicating preventable blindness and improving sight. Organizations around the world hold vision screening events, community education programs, eyeglass collections and other special projects to mark World Sight Day which falls on every second Thursday each year.

…“World Sight Day provides an opportunity for all of us to work together and become more aware and more committed to ensuring the right to sight. Please inform us anytime, of any under privilege person who have vision impairment especially those having cataracts so that we can restore sight back to them.”

centreforsight.com.my

Those who would like to take part with the centre in organizing a bigger event next year are welcome to contact the Centre for Sight: www.centreforsight.com.my.

Refugees in Malaysia

2008-11-04T00:11:00.007+08:00

Refugees in Malaysia

Refugees and asylum-seekers in Malaysia,

registered with UNHCR, 2008

*Country*	Numbers
*Myanmar*	36500
*Sri Lanka*	1900
*Somalia*	580
*Iraq*	570
Total	41400

Source: Malay Mail, from: www.unhcr.org.my

Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Malaysia, 2006

Refugees and Asylum Seekers	*152700*
*Philippines*	66800
*Myanmar*	53000
*Indonesia*	30000
*New Refugees & Asylum Seekers*	10900
*Involuntary Departures*	210 -1000
*Voluntary Departures*	700
Malaysia as Source	200

Source: < http://www.une.edu.au/asiacenter/No18.pdf >

From: U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants - World Refugee Survey 2006 Country Report,Malaysia

< http://www.refugees.org/countryreports.aspx?subm=&ssm=&cid=1595 >

30,000 Malaysians living illigally in Britain!

2008-11-03T07:47:00.005+08:00

Friday October 31

The British Government in introducing a programme to reduce the number of illegal immigrants with regards to those who have overstayed.Under this programme those who overstay "can be assisted in returning home by being given a one-way ticket to their respective countries.free flight ticket home".

Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said that there were 30,000 Malaysians who had overstayed in Britain and its government would like to see as many illegal immigrants possible from that country leave.

“In July, United Kingdom gave Malaysia a six months grace period before deciding whether to impose visa on citizens of this country. “The period is used to gauge whether there is an increase in the number of overstayers or those who go in on a social visa but find employment there.

He said the British Government would decide after December whether to impose a visa on Malaysians traveling to the country but hoped that “this will not be necessary”, urging citizens to respect and abide by the laws of the country they were in.

Britain is mulling whether to impose visa on visiting Malaysians following high incidents of overstaying and illegal workers of late.

the star

Tamil film fraternity fasts for immediate solution to the suffering of SL Tamils!

2008-11-02T14:01:00.005+08:00

Packed with performance and punch lines, the entire Tamil film fraternity staged a powerful show of strength at a one-day fast in Chennai Saturday to express solidarity with the Eezham Tamils. The actors demanded the Tamil Nadu state and the Indian Union Government to immediately find a peaceful and permanent solution to the Sri Lankan problem.

more

Serbia expels Malaysia's ambassador!

2008-11-02T01:26:00.007+08:00

Serbia's Foreign Ministry says the government has expelled Malaysia's ambassador after his country recognized the independence of Kosovo.

The ministry says the Malaysian envoy Saw Ching Hong has 48 hours to leave the country.

The move follows the expulsion earlier this month of Montenegrin and Macedonian ambassadors over their countries' recognition of Kosovo.

The former Serbian province declared independence in February with the support from the United States and most EU nations.

But Serbia refuses to endorse the split. It has asked for a U.N. court's opinion on whether the secession was legal.

Associated Press

Just a thought.....

Will the world ever recognise Tamil Eelam? If Kosovo can be recognised then surely the Tamil struggle should also be recognised? Unfortunately the U S of A has branded the Rebellion and Freedom struggle in Eelam as Terrorism while on the other hand given support to the Kosovans.

Double standards?

If thats the case then Russia is right in Recognising the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia as an independant region.

5th Penang Postgraduate & Career Expo 2008

2008-11-01T19:13:00.001+08:00

The Tigers Strike Back!

2008-10-31T00:56:00.008+08:00

The Tamil Tigers, pushed back by a major military offensive, showed they still have the strength to hit back with air raids on a military base in the northeast region of Mannar and a power station in Colombo which plunged

the Sri Lanka

's capital into darkness.

The Air Tigers is the air force of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.The Air Tigers were revealed on 2007 when it conducted its first air raid on the Sri Lankan Air Force base. Since then they have conducted four other air raids. The Tamil Tigers are the first and only rebel organization in the world to establish a fully functional air force with an estimated possession of five light aircrafts.

Timeline

2007 March: Tamil Tigers launch their first confirmed air raid, hitting a military base next to the international airport.

2007 April : Two international airlines suspend flights to Sri Lanka following another air raid by Tamil Tigers.

2008 Oct : Tamil Tigers launch air raids on a power plant in Colombo and a military base in the northeast.

The Tiger air attacks came as government forces stepped up their own air strikes against the guerrillas inside their de facto mini-state in the north.

The LTTE will continue to strike back even if they are defeated thus the Sri Lankan Government should realise that there is no miltary solution for this conflict and sincerely work towards lasting peace through negotiations with the LTTE. Consessions will have to be made for a long lasting peace.

MY Career, Education & Entrepreneur Fair 2008!

2008-10-30T00:04:00.001+08:00

This event is Organized by People Source (M) Sdn Bhd and managed by My Events Sdn Bhd, My Career, Education & Entrepreneur Fair 2008 will assist those who want to take their careers, Education and Entrepreneurship to the next level. With the theme ‘ Exploring New Opportunities ', this event will showcase job and education opportunities available not only in Malaysia but also in abroad.

Mid Valley, Kuala Lumpur
7th to 9th November '08

Persada, Johor Bahru
29th & 30th November '08

Sabah Trade Centre, KK, Sabah
21st & 22nd February '09

Pandemics of our Time!

2008-10-29T19:23:00.008+08:00

These are interactive maps of some of the most deadly pandemics of our time

The World at War!

2008-10-26T11:01:00.006+08:00

Global Conflicts.

Wars,Civil Wars & Proxy Wars

The Global Arms Trade.

Demand and Supply!

The Global Arms Trade.

Top Spenders

Weapons of Mass Destruction.

The Large Picture

Happy Deepavali

2008-10-25T18:00:00.001+08:00

HAVE A BLESSED DEEPAVALI WITH LOTS OF LOVE!

Singapore Update - The New Vasantham

2008-10-25T12:19:00.002+08:00

It’s great news for Indians in Singapore. A brand new MediaCorp (Singapore’s National TV broadcaster) channel – ‘Vasantham’ was launched last week. ‘Vasantham’ was unveiled in a show that celebrated with more than 100 local artistes and award winning Kollywood playback singers Krish and Neha Bhasin. ‘Vasantham’ is Singapore’s first full-fledged free-to-air Indian channel. It will broadcast nine hours of programming daily instead of the previous two and a half hours. Previously called ‘Vasantham central’, it used to share a single channel with both ‘Arts Central’ and ‘Kids Central’. These are exciting times for local artistes and TV audience, as the number of locally produced and acquired programmes have doubled.

There are many reasons for this new channel. Two of the main reasons stated are the influx of Indian foreigners working in Singapore demanding more quality shows and the increased competition from various Indian cable channels. In the end however it all burns down to money. More airtime = to more advertisements = to more $$$, simple as that. Increasing pressure among local Indians for more show time has also been a reason. However putting all that aside, it feels great to finally have a channel to call our own. Looking at the start the channel has made the future looks bright. This is just the beginning and not the end.

The Nuclear Boom!

2008-10-25T00:52:00.004+08:00

2008-10-24T14:57:00.006+08:00

In a related update to my previous post, it appears that the Malaysian Foreign Minister has urged the University of Malaya to lift the speech ban of Ms Ebadi.

"We would like Dr. Ebadi to be invited to the forum," Foreign Minister Rais Yatim told the Star daily.
"Malaysia should allow the freedom of expression and criticisms at the highest level. I will go and investigate this matter," he added.

Malaysia Bars Iran Nobel Prize winner !

2008-10-24T11:07:00.006+08:00

The University of Malaya has cancelled a scheduled visit by the outspoken human rights lawyer and Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi who was supposed to deliver a speech entitled Islam and Cultural Diversity on 3 November.

Ms Ebadi campaigned for greater rights for women and children.She has faced numerous death threats and hostility in the Iranian media, and the government banned her Centre for Protecting Human Rights in 2006.

The Malaysian foreign ministry had sent a letter "strongly advising" the organisers not to go ahead with the speech."We were told there would be big implications for bilateral relations," the unnamed official said, adding that Iranian diplomats were "pushing for Malaysia to call it off".

The university's vice-chancellor, Rafiah Salim, told the French news agency AFP that the decision was made "out of respect for our Iranian students, who were not very happy".

BBC

Shakuntala Devi- Human Computer and Mathematical Wizard-1 day program

2008-10-24T00:06:00.004+08:00

World acclaimed Math Genius and Guiness Record holder Madam Shakuntala Devi is in Malaysia as part of her World Tour, conducting Seminars and Workshops.

Venue : Artha Dharma Concept Builders
Life Long Learning Center
Wisma Citras 25-1 , Brickfields

Date: Nov 1 2008
Time : 9.00am to 5.00pm.
Fee: The fee will rm 99. 00 only.Limited places (100 only)

For advanced bookings please contact us via the following :

012 2345664, 0166120587, artha.dha...@gmail.com.

Please email and sms only if you want to come and book your seat.

Shakunatala Devi is a well-known mathematical genius and calculating progidy from India. She has been nicknamed 'Human Computer' because of her extraordinary talent and skill in solving complex mathematical problems without any mechanical aid. Shakuntala Devi was born on 4th November, 1939 in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Shakuntala's father was a circus artiste and it was he who introduced Shakuntala to the world of mathematics, through card tricks. Shakuntala's amazing memory power was tapped, which then led her to develop an extraordinary love for numbers at the tender age of three.

Gradually, over the years, Shakuntala's memorizing and calculating skills were strengthened, whilst she simultaneously became an expert in complex mental arithmetic. Beginning at the University of Mysore and the Annamalai University, Shakuntala's public displays of her extraordinary abilities and talents even spread to institutions worldwide, bewildering the crowded gathering of students and professors alike. In her time, older calculating prodigies like Truman Henry Safford were also present, yet Shakuntala started displaying her talents from a very young age.

With her brilliant mind, Shakuntala Devi was adept at solving arithmetical problems, including functions of addition, multiplication, division, calculating square and cube roots, along with complex algorithms and Vedic Maths. She could even state the day of the week of any given date in the last century in a jiffy. Shakuntala could even outdo some of the fastest available computers of that period. Amongst her numerous feats, the most outstanding ones that fetched her name in the 1995 Guinness Book of World Records are:
In January 1977, at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, Shakuntala Devi extracted the 23rd root of a 201-digit number, at the fifty-second mark, with the correct answer being '546372891'. She had beaten the then fastest computer, UNIVAC's time of 62 seconds, and 13,000 instructions.
On 18th June, 1980, Shakuntala Devi demonstrated the multiplication of two 13-digit numbers: '7,686,369,774,870 x 2,465,099,745,779', picked randomly by the Computer Department of Imperial College, London. She produced the correct answer of '18,947,668,177,995,426,462,773,730', in just 28 seconds.
Shakuntala could find the cube root of 332 812 557 in under a minute.

Today Shakunatala Devi is an accomplished mathematician whose interests also include the mystic field of Astrology. While setting up of several mathematics research centers are her future plans, Shakuntala Devi has also written numerous books, some of which are - Puzzles to Puzzle You, Fun with Numbers, Astrology for you and Mathablity.

The Lost Temples!

2008-10-23T00:31:00.005+08:00

Ancient Temples of Malaysia

Temples have long been part of the local landscape of South East Asia, with great monuments such as Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Borobudur in Indonesia built by the Hindu and Buddhist Kingdoms of the Pre-Islamic era. Having said so, one would wonder why no monuments were built in the Malay Peninsular of modern day Malaysia.Perhaps a little correction should be made there; no monuments have been discovered yet.It is generally accepted by historians that a Hindu civilisation was established in the Bujang Valley up north in the ancient Kingdom of Kedaram. Tamil traders established settlements in the Bujang Valley as early as the 3rd century AD.Over 50 Buddhist and Hindu temples have been excavated from various sites in the valley.

An Ancient Ruin of the Bujang Valley

Over many centuries these temples were lost swallowed by the jungles of Malaya. Though almost 30 sites were discovered, none of them have matched the collosal size of those discovered in neighbouring countries. However it is widely believed that deep in the jungles of Malaysia lay hidden monuments which will enrich the Pre-Islamic history of Malaysia.

Chandrayaan-1 launched successfully!

2008-10-22T10:29:00.003+08:00

India's first moon mission blasts off

Chandrayaan-1 placed in transfer orbit

Pallava Bagla

Wednesday, October 22, 2008 6:23 AM (Sriharikota)

Chandrayaan-1, India's maiden moon spacecraft, was put into Transfer Orbit around the earth by the Polar Launch Vehicle PSLV-C11 after it blasted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

The 1,380 kg Chandrayaan-1, carrying 11 payloads, was released into a Transfer Orbit 18.2 minutes after the PSLV-C11 blasted off.
ndtv.com

Chandrayaan-1 launch perfect, says ISRO chairman

SRIHARIKOTA: As India's first lunar mission settled into its chosen orbit successfully, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman G Madhavan Nair described the launch as "perfect" which was achieved after "fighting against all odds".

"It is a remarkable performance by the launch vehicle," he said.

It is a perfect launch. Now it will be orbiting the earth, he said, adding that today "what we have started is a remarkable journey for the Indian spacecraft to go to the moon and try to unravel the mysteries of the moon".

India Times

Virtual Strip Search Scanners for Airports!

2008-10-21T23:54:00.012+08:00

Body Scanners in EU Airports By 2010!

The European Commission Regulation has asked all European Union airports to use virtual digital scanners by 2010. This scanner is a virtual strip search machines, which creates a 3D image of a naked body. Such a scanner has been opposed as it is next to a strip search.
more

Australian airports are trialling body scanners that can see through passengers' clothes. (ABC)

Trial Begins

AIR travelers will be invited to take part in "virtual strip searches" at Australian airports when the Federal Government begins trials of security screening measures this month. The measures include a body scanner that can see what lies under a person's clothes. The Government says the scanner could detect weapons and explosives, but critics say it is an invasion of privacy.

Chandrayaan's Countdown Begins, Undeterred by Rain!

2008-10-21T22:56:00.004+08:00

One hour ago :

The work on filling of propellant for the first stage of the polar launch vehicle had been completed and the second stage filling would be over tonight, SDSC Associate Director Dr M Y S Prasad told PTI here, 80 kms north of Chennai.

"The countdown, which started at 5.22 am yesterday, is progressing smoothly and the propellant filling of PS-2 (first stage) has been completed," he said adding a total of about 43 tonnes of propellant would be filled.

Asked about weather conditions in this space port town, which is witnessing isolated rains, Prasad said the rains would not affect the launch. "The rain does not matter as the spacecraft is fully rain proof. Even if it is drenched, the launch would take place as per schedule." However, the launch might have to be rescheduled if there was cyclonic weather conditions, he added.

Press Trust of India

Tamil Imperialism??? (9th-13th Centuries)

2008-10-21T21:23:00.010+08:00

The Chola Empire at its Peak

The Chola Empire rose to power in the 9th century in the Tamil speaking districts of Southern India. Although the Chola Dynasty existed since at least 100 B.C., it was during the 9th Century that it began its rise into a major world power. Under Rajaraja Chola (Rajaraja The Great) and his son Rajendra Chola, the Cholas rose as a notable military, economic and cultural power in Asia.

The Chola Empire stretched from southern Maldives as far north as the Himalaya Mountains and West Bengal in North India. Rajaraja Chola conquered peninsular South India, and annexed parts of Sri Lanka by defeating the Pandyas. Rajendra Chola went beyond,occupying coastal Burma, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands,Lakshadweep, Sumatra, Java, Malaya in South East Asia and Pegu islands with his fleet of ships. He defeated Mahipala, the king of Bihar and Bengal, and to commemorate his victory he built a new capital called Gangaikonda Cholapuram. Tamil Chola armies exacted tribute from Thailand and Cambodia. The power of the Cholas declined
around the 13th century. The Cholas were the first Indian empire to engage in naval conquest overseas.

The Empire

IMPERIAL CHOLA ARMY:

~10,000 Velaikarrar royal guards
~200,000 Professional infantry and cavalry troops (30 regiments)
~60,000 war elephants
~50,000 horses
~500,000 reserve infantry (fully mobilized strength of conscripts)

IMPERIAL CHOLA NAVY:

~100,000 naval infantry/marines
~1,000 ships/boats

CHOLA WARSHIPS:

1) Colandia - The largest sailing ships, they had large cargo holds and could hold hundreds of soldiers. Used extensively in campaigns throughout the Indian Ocean, and they even sailed as far as Western Europe going back to ancient times.

2) Sangara - Medium sized fighting ships, they typically had many steel/iron shields attached to the sides for protection. They had supports for Ballistas for fighting with other ships, and had
catamaran supports for stability at high speeds. Incidentally "Catamaran" is the English pronunciation of the original Tamil name "katta maram" ("short trees", which were used
for ship building).

Visit http://www.geocities.com/rajiv20/jweb/chola.html for
more "DETAILS ON CHOLA MILITARY FORCES AND CAMPAIGNS"

Image of Areas under direct control of the Chola Empire, 1030 AD

The Stockpile!

2008-10-20T00:03:00.011+08:00

Estimated Nuclear Warheads of the world!

Estimated number of Nuclear Warheads 2004

Third World Joins the Nuke Race

World nuclear stockpiles 2008

Check these links for more:

Link 1

Link 2

Pacific Earthquake poses no tsunami threat to Sabah!

2008-10-19T20:36:00.002+08:00

Strong Earthquake Hits Tonga Islands, No Tsunami Threat To Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 (Bernama) -- A strong eathquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale hit Tonga Islands, about 7,898km Southeast of Tawau, Sabah, at 1.11pm today.

The Meteorological Department said in a statement that the earthquake did not pose any tsunami threat to Malaysia.

BERNAMA

Great Language Families throughout the world!

2008-10-19T13:01:00.004+08:00

Britannica's Concise Pictured Encyclopedia

The following maps are courtesy of Dr. C. George Boeree's "The Language Families Of The World", Shippensburg University
[link]

The Sino-Tibetan Family

The Indo-European Family
(with the isolates Basque, Burushaski, and Nahali)

The Miao-Yao, Austro-Asiatic, and Daic Families

The Dravidian Family

The Austronesian Family

Did you find your roots???

National Career Fair!

2008-10-18T22:28:00.002+08:00

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) is currently hosting the third National Career Carnival at the Dewan Canselor Tun Abdul Razak, from 17th -19th October. The National Career Carnival 2008 (NCC2008) is a government initiative, with the co-operation of the private/corporate sectors.

more

Gov. condemned over ban of HINDRAF

2008-10-17T14:15:00.005+08:00

Agence France-Presse - 10/16/2008 8:51 AM GMT

Malaysia was accused Thursday of aggravating race relations by banning a Hindu rights group whose leaders are being held without trial.

The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), which represents Malaysia's ethnic Indian minority, has been declared illegal by the government which found it "posed a threat to public order and morality".
Hindraf chairman Waytha Moorthy, who fled to Britain before the group's leadership was rounded up last year, vowed the movement would continue to fight for the rights of the disadvantaged community.
"Hindraf will not flinch with these threats and will continue its struggle," he said in a statement.
The government "enjoys demonising and bullying us on the pretext of law, public order, national security, when all we are fighting for is to address the true and real condition of the downtrodden Malaysian Indians," he said.
Malik Imtiaz Sarwar

Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, president of the national human rights society Suhakam, said the ban was unnecessary and showed a lack of sensitivity to the minority community which shunned the government in March elections.
"Hindraf is more a wave of consciousness than an organisation and in declaring it illegal the government has possibly alienated the Indian community even more," he told AFP.
"The cause of marginalisation is a real one and if you look at Hindraf activities so far, there has been no violence and none of their activities can be described as a threat to security with the exception of last year's demonstrations."

The Cosmic Dance of Shiva and Quantum Physics

2008-10-17T00:24:00.012+08:00

Shiva's Cosmic Dance at CERN

The image of the Cosmic Dance of Shiva gained international fame in 2004 with the installation of an idol of Lord Shiva in the Cosmic Dance form (Nadaraja) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva. Lord Nadaraja is seen as a symbol of not only the cosmic cycles of creation and destruction, but also the daily rhythm of birth and death which is seen in Indian mysticism as the basis of all existence.

Shiva's Cosmic Dance at CERN

The dance of Shiva is the dancing universe; the ceaseless flow of
energy going through an infinite variety of patterns that into one
another.

Modern physics has shown that the rhythm of creation and destruction
is not only manifest in the turn of the seasons and in the birth and
death of all living creatures, but is also the very essence of
inorganic matter. According to quantum field theory, all interactions
between the constituents of matter take place through the emission and
absorption of virtual particles. More than that, the dance of creation
and destruction is the basis of the very existence of matter, since
all material particles 'self-interact' by emitting and reabsorbing the
virtual particles. Modern physics has thus revealed that every
subatomic particle not only performs an energy dance, but also is an
energy dance; a pulsating process of creation and destruction.

Shiva's Cosmic Dance at CERN

"The Wave Structure of Matter Explains the Atomic Structure
of Matter. The 'Particle' as the Wave-Center of a Spherical
Standing Wave in Space" explains the cosmic dance of
Nataraja."

"Modern physics has shown that the rhythm of creation and
destruction is not only manifest in the turn of the seasons
and in the birth and death of all living creatures, but is
also the very essence of inorganic matter," and that "For
the modern physicists, then, Shiva's dance is the dance of
subatomic matter." -Fritjof Capra in The Tao of Physics,
1975

more

Shiva's Cosmic Dance at CERN - night view

On June 18, 2004, an unusual new landmark was unveiled at CERN, the European Center for Research in Particle Physics in Geneva — a 2m tall statue of the Indian deity Shiva Nataraja, the Lord of Dance. The statue, symbolizing Shiva's cosmic dance of creation and destruction, was given to CERN by the Indian government to celebrate the research center's long association with India.

In choosing the image of Shiva Nataraja, the Indian government acknowledged the profound significance of the metaphor of Shiva's dance for the cosmic dance of subatomic particles, which is observed and analyzed by CERN's physicists. The parallel between Shiva's dance and the dance of subatomic particles was first discussed by Fritjof Capra in an article titled "The Dance of Shiva: The Hindu View of Matter in the Light of Modern Physics," published in Main Currents in Modern Thought in 1972. Shiva's cosmic dance then became a central metaphor in Capra's international bestseller The Tao of Physics, first published in 1975 and still in print in over 40 editions around the world.

A special plaque next to the Shiva statue at CERN explains the significance of the metaphor of Shiva's cosmic dance with several quotations from The Tao of Physics. Here is the text of the plaque:

Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, seeing beyond the unsurpassed rhythm, beauty, power and grace of the Nataraja, once wrote of it "It is the clearest image of the activity of God which any art or religion can boast of."

More recently, Fritjof Capra explained that "Modern physics has shown that the rhythm of creation and destruction is not only manifest in the turn of the seasons and in the birth and death of all living creatures, but is also the very essence of inorganic matter," and that "For the modern physicists, then, Shiva's dance is the dance of subatomic matter."

It is indeed as Capra concluded: "Hundreds of years ago, Indian artists created visual images of dancing Shivas in a beautiful series of bronzes. In our time, physicists have used the most advanced technology to portray the patterns of the cosmic dance. The metaphor of the cosmic dance thus unifies ancient mythology, religious art and modern physics."

Shiva's Cosmic Dance at CERN - night view

Source : http://www.fritjofcapra.net/shiva.html

The Top 100 Universities!

2008-10-16T20:37:00.003+08:00

The Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings identified these to be the world's top 100 universities in 2008. These institutions represent 20 countries with Israel represented for the first time. Whilst North America dominates with 42 universities, Europe and Asia Pacific are well represented with 36 and 22 respectively.

In 2004 Universiti Malaya (UM) had reached 89th place.Did you find UM in this year's list???
No....but the country's oldest university moved up from 246 last year to 230.

What about UPM???
UPM Vice-Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Nik Mustapha Raja Abdullah said the university was ranked 320, up from 364.

Our National University (UKM) ???
UKM Vice-Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin said the university was ranked 250 from 309 last year.

And what happened to our apex-status Universiti Sains Malaysia???
Oh, USM deputy Vice Chancellor (academic and international affairs) Professor Ahmad Shukri Mustapa Kamal said the university had dropped from 307th spot but he was not able to confirm the current standing.

WOW...
Interesting.......

The Complete Rankings

Asian Aircraft Carriers

2008-10-16T15:24:00.006+08:00

Asian Aircraft Carriers

The Asian race to dominate the seas can best be understood through their ambitious Naval expansion programmes reflected in the development and purchasing of Aircraft carriers.

Thailand - HTMS Chakri Naruebet (1997)

China - Unconfirmed/Developmental stage (n/a)

Japan - Hyuga (Japan's 1st post World War II carrier,officially called a helicopter-carrying destroyer) (2007)

Korea - Dokdo class amphibious assault ship (2005)

India - INS Vikramaditya (2010)

Vikrant class aircraft Carrier - In progress

INS Vikrant (1957) - The ship which played a key role during 1971 Indo-Pakistan war was decommissioned in 1997 and preserved as a floating museum at Mumbai.

INS Viraat (1986) - currently in service

Who will rule the Oceans?

Only time can tell...

HINDRAF BANNED!

2008-10-16T09:28:00.002+08:00

The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) has been banned by the Malaysian government.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar yesterday issued a statement declaring Hindraf, which has been championing Indian rights and trying to prevent the demolition of Hindu temples in the country, an illegal organisation.

In a statement yesterday, Syed Hamid said the decision to declare Hindraf illegal was made as a result of investigations by the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

“The ministry found the organisation’s activities contravened the Societies Act 1966 and if left unchecked, the organisation could pose a threat to public order, peace, security and morality in Malaysia,” he said, adding that even the sovereignty of the country and prevailing racial harmony would be jeopardised.

He made the declaration based on powers vested under Section 5(1) of the Societies Act.

Five top Hindraf leaders are being detained under the Internal Security Act and chairman P.Waythamoorthy is in self-imposed exile in London where he has been lobbying international organisations on the plight of Indians in Malaysia.

Coalition of Indian NGOs secretary-general Gunaraj George said that by banning Hindraf, Syed Hamid had rendered the Indian community voiceless, but said it would not dampen the spirit of its supporters.

“I know that their struggle will go on especially to free all those detained under the ISA.”

The Star
New Strait Times
Strait Times Singapore

Sultan UNSHIELDED!

2008-10-15T21:33:00.006+08:00

A special Malaysian court consisting of a panel of five judges ordered ex-Agong, Tuanku Jaafar Tuanku Abdul Rahman to settle a $1 million debt to the Standard Chartered Bank in an unprecedented verdict that ended a centuries old tradition shielding Malaysia's royal Sultans from legal prosecution.

"This would be an ordinary case but what is exceptional is that it involves a ruler," the bank's lawyer, Robert Lazar, told The Associated Press.
A special panel of Malaysia's top five judges unanimously ruled that Tuanku Jaafar was liable for a $1 million credit provided by the bank in a 1999 business contract involving him and the U.S.-based Connecticut Bank of Commerce. Tuanku Jaafar was Malaysia's king at the time

Lazar said Tuanku Jaafar cannot appeal the verdict and Standard Chartered will be able to recover the payment from the ruler's bank deposits.

Associated Press

Blood Money and 'horror' of Saudi executions!

2008-10-15T00:06:00.006+08:00

Saudi beheading on the rise!

Amnesty International reported that Saudi Arabia has executed 71 people through the end of August this year. Nearly half of them were foreigners, including migrant workers who don’t understand Saudi laws, have no political connections and are too poor to pay “blood money” that would spare them.

Foreign nationals, mostly Asians and Africans, who face capital trials in the conservative kingdom, are frequently unable to understand court proceedings if they are not Arabic speakers, are often not represented by a lawyer and are routinely held for long periods in harsh conditions and coerced into false confessions.

The state does not provide official statistics but Amnesty said it had recorded at least 1,695 executions between 1985 and May 2008. Of these, 830 were foreign nationals - a highly disproportionate figure since foreigners make up about one-quarter of the country's population.

In some cases, execution is followed by crucifixion, Amnesty says in its report.

Saudi officials were not immediately available to comment. They routinely defend beheadings as a quick and clean form of execution sanctioned by the Islamic faith.

Saudi Arabia is one of the few states in the world with a high rate of executions for women. It is also one of the few to execute people for crimes they committed when they were still under the age of 18.

The kingdom applies a strict version of Sharia law, under which rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking can all carry the death penalty. Part of the reason for the rapid rise in executions, Amnesty shows, has been an extension of the use of death penalty in the late 1980s to cover "corruption on earth" (sometimes applied to political activities) as well as drugs-related offences.

A Saudi executioner prepares to behead a convicted drug dealer in Jeddah in this 1985 image. Photograph: Rex Features

BBC

GUARDIAN

LA TIMES

Petrol and Diesel price brought down again!

2008-10-14T22:51:00.003+08:00

Today,our Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the price of petrol would be cut by 15 sen to RM 2.30 a litre while diesel prices would fall by 20 sen to RM 2.20 effective Wednesday.

"Because oil prices have fallen sharply in recent times, the government has decided to cut fuel prices to allow the masses to benefit (from) lower prices," Abdullah said in a statement

This is the third adjustment to the price of petrol and diesel.Looks like Anwar Ibrahim has succeed in putting some pressure on the ruling government.However, to what extent is this reduction going to help?Is it enough?Right now many questions are being asked.Will there be another adjustment in the near future??

Survey shows Tamil Nadu support for LTTE!

2008-10-14T00:09:00.004+08:00

A survey undertaken in 10 cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu by the Indian Express newspaper shows that a clear majority of the respondents wanted India to lift the ban on the proscribed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and 66% of the respondents said the LTTE is either freedom fighters and/or the sole and genuine representatives of Tamil voice.

Russia launches the sixth space tourist for $30m !

2008-10-13T00:31:00.011+08:00

British-born space tourist, Richard Garriott, blasts off in $30m odyssey

A Russian carrier rocket blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carring a British born American “space tourist" as a private passenger aboard a Soyuz capsule.He is said to have paid the Russian space agency $30 million for the privilege and undergone a year’s training.

Richard Garriott and his father, Owen

The multi-millionaire computer-game developer is the son of of a Nasa astronaut,Owen Garriott who flew aboard one of Nasa’s last Apollo missions to Skylab, America’s first orbiting laboratory.

Times Online

China Daily

AFP

And we will be sending our very own space tourist again, for the SECOND time, very soon!
I bet he is training somewhere in Russia now
Or maybe not...

In case others have more money than us to "book" a seat.

Thanks to Russia!

The War on Terror???

2008-10-13T00:17:00.004+08:00

Source

Datukship for Shah Rukh Khan's Great contribution to Malacca???

2008-10-12T10:24:00.009+08:00

People just Khan believe it!

By MARTIN CARVALHO and NURBAITI HAMDAN

The star online

MALACCA: The conferment of Datukship on Bollywood heartthrob Shah Rukh Khan has stirred up a controversy. Politicians, professionals and the man on the street are hotly questioning the wisdom of the move.

Some commented that the actor did not deserve the award as “he hardly knows where Malacca is” and asked whether he had promoted Malacca in his songs and movies.

Businesswoman Fatimah Tahir, a huge fan of the star, said she was stunned to hear that he had received a Datukship.

“I thought the award is given to those who have contributed towards Malacca’s development.

“I wonder whether Shah Rukh Khan even knows where Malacca is,” said the 40-year-old from Taman Melaka Raya.

The local artistes who received the Darjah Seri Melaka (DSM) award, which does not carry any title, were singer Goh Eng Boon, popularly known as Andre Goh, comedian Jantan Osman also known as Ali Mamak and 60s singer Mariam Ahmad.

DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang said he was not against deserving people being awarded the Datukship but priority should be given to local artistes.

He noted that if Shah Rukh Khan deserved the award, then so should Hollywood stars Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones who shot the movie Entrapment against the backdrop of the Twin Towers in 1999.

Did anybody mention the Tamil Movie industry???

After all, scores of Indian Tamil movies, more than Hindi films are being shot here annually.

At this rate Melacca might have to bestow Datukships for most of the Tamil artists from India besides those from the Hindi movie industry and Hollywood.

Think about it

Future Global Conflicts : The Freshwater Wars!

2008-10-11T14:02:00.006+08:00

The Freshwater Wars!

Fresh Water is becoming a scarce commodity due to rapid urbanization, mismanagement of water sources and the effects of global warming with reference to the rapid melting of glaciers around the world. Future conflicts could be caused by the necessity to control or possess fresh water sources. More than 50 countries on five continents might soon be caught up in water disputes unless they move quickly to establish agreements on how to share reservoirs, rivers, and underground water acquifers. Potential hot-spots for trouble can be seen in South Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Much of the water in China, India and Nepal comes from glaciers in the Himalayas and with rapid economic progress , the lack of sustainable development, population growth, increasing demand for water from agricultural and industry, plus the impact of global warming, it is going to be a survival of the fittest in securing enough water.

The potential dispute between India and Pakistan over the Indus is highly possible while in central Asia "there are high risks of conflict" between Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan over the Amu Daria and Syr Daria rivers and the already depleted Aral Sea. In Africa, the Chobe, a tributary of the Zambesi, has become a cause of tension between Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, while there have been border incidents between Mauritania and Senegal over control of the Senegal River.

globalpolicy.org

simplecomplexity.net

manilatimes.net

World Mental Health Day !

2008-10-10T11:42:00.008+08:00

October 10 is observed as the World Mental Health Day (WMHDAY) since 1992 and this years theme is Advocacy for global mental health: scaling up services through citizen advocacy and action'. The 2008 WMHDAY focuses on where we came from and what needs to be done yet for the future. It aims to provide information, personalised treatment and resources that would help people across the globe in recovering from all forms of mental illness and disorders.

NDTV
World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH)
WHO

Did you know that one out of every four people around the world have some kind of mental illness and most of them go undiagnosed.The most common ones are depression, insomnia and Alzheimer's disease.

Would you classify being extremely shy as another form of mental illness? Social phobia such as being shy is also considered an illness of the same kind.This problem was first recognised as a mental health condition in 1980.

Apparently,acute shyness is one of the most under-recognised and under-treated mental health problems of the modern age.

For most of us it is a taboo to consult a psychiatrist or get any other kind of professional help such as counseling, so some resort to black magic to pacify or "cure" themselves.

Is being shy an illness?

Ant Traffic

2008-10-10T11:23:00.005+08:00

How do ants avoid gridlock when their trails narrow into one-way paths? Vincent Fourcassié, a biologist at Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France, set up experiments in which ants had to cross a narrow bridge to get from nest to foraging site and back. It turned out that different species follow different rules to determine who goes first. The typical black garden ant did not enter the bride if another ant was crossing from the opposite direction. In contrast, the leaf-cutter ant gave way for ants carrying leaves back to the colony. And the list goes on...

French Author wins Nobel Prize for Literature!

2008-10-10T00:04:00.006+08:00

The Nobel Foundation announced on Thursday that the French author Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio won this year's Nobel Prize for Literature.

Nobel Prize for Literature, 2008: Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, Mauritian-born French.

The committee said Le Clezio was an "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization."

Le Clezio has written some 30 books including novels, essays, and short stories. Critics have found him hard to define, with his writing and subject matter having changed considerably over time, according to an article in Label France, a magazine published by the French government.

His work reflects ecological concerns, rebellion against the intolerance of Western nationalist thought, and his fascination with Native Americans, according to the magazine.

Le Clezio told the interviewer his books were less a matter of expressing ideas, and more an

Le Clezio said he has always felt like an exile in his own country because of his family's roots in Mauritius, a mixed culture with Indian, African, and European influences.
"I grew up telling myself that there was a somewhere else which embodied my true homeland," he told the magazine. "One day I would go there and I would know what it was. So in France I always thought of myself a little bit of an 'outsider.' On the other hand, I love the French language, which is perhaps my true country! But thinking of France as a nation, I must say I have rarely identified with its priorities."

Although Le Clezio reminds me of V.S.Naipaul, another Nobel Prize winner who constantly speaks about displacement and being in a permanent state of exile he doesnt seem to be totally rootless or unable to find home.There is some kind of hope in him, unlike Naipaul.Will have to read Le Clezio's books to learn more.

Nobel Prize for Literature, 2001: V.S. Naipaul, Trinidad-born Briton of Indian origin.

Perak to shut ISA Detention Camp!

2008-10-09T13:16:00.006+08:00

The Pakatan Rakyat government said on Wednesday that it was taking steps to shut down the infamous Kamunting Detention Camp located in the northern state of Perak where dozens of people are being held under the Internal Security Act (ISA).The 240-acre (100-hectare) site, is located in Perak but owned by the federal government.

The opposition has joined civil society groups in demanding the government revoke the (ISA) and free all 63 detainees currently being held in Kamunting.

"We want the ruling government to remove the camp from the state. The opposition alliance is dead against the ISA," he told AFP. "We are also looking at how we can acquire the land legally."

"We want to use the land for other purposes. We can put up a hospital, religious schools or develop an industrial area for the benefit of the people," he said.
...one option could be to dramatically increase the 26,000-ringgit (7,500-dollar) annual land tax that the federal government currently pays on the site.
mo re

Nobel Prize for Chemistry shared by 3 Scientists!

2008-10-09T00:07:00.010+08:00

Research into the mysterious green glow of a jellyfish leads to the Discovery of GFP.

Three scientists will share this year's Nobel Prize for Chemistry in recognition of their contribution to the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein GFP.

By using DNA technology, researchers can now connect GFP to other proteins that were previously invisible, or to various cells, the Nobel Foundation said. The glowing marker allows them to watch the movements, positions and interactions of whatever carries the glowing tag.
The Nobel Foundation said GFP can help with researching nerve cell damage during Alzheimer's disease or insulin-producing beta cells created in the pancreas of a growing embryo. In one spectacular experiment, researchers succeeded in tagging different nerve cells with "a kaleidoscope of colors" in the brain of a mouse, the foundation said.

http://edition.cnn.com

http://afp.google.com

The Real WMD!

2008-10-08T00:13:00.007+08:00

The AK 47
(Kalashnikov)

The Most Destructive Weapon of all time; the Global Symbol of Violence!

The ak 47 has become a symbol of violence and synonymous with armed struggle. It has become an important weapon in most terrorist organizations and to date more than 50 armed forces have it in their arsenal and it is the most widely used weapon of the world.Needless to say is the fact that this weapon is known to be the most effective combat weapon of all time. This brings us to the darker side of the Kalashnikov which is that this weapon is responsible for about a quarter-million deaths every year.Forget about nuclear and chemical weapons. The AK-47 is the world's weapon, the device that kills more people in more places.

In Iraq, Sierra Leone, Sudan and elsewhere, today's wars are hot conflicts in urban areas, with guerrillas holding their own against better trained troops. Sophisticated, expensive arms seem no match for AK-wielding rebels who need little training and know the local terrain better. Some call this the new reality of small conflicts.[link]

Below is an interesting article taken from the Washington Post, written by Larry Kahaner, the author of "AK-47: The Weapon That Changed the Face of War" (Wiley).

Weapon Of Mass Destruction

By Larry Kahaner
Sunday, November 26, 2006; Page B01
In the grand narrative of World War II, the Battle of Bryansk is a minor conflict, barely deserving of a footnote. But Bryansk has another place in history. It was there that a then-unknown tank commander named Mikhail Kalashnikov decided that his Russian comrades would never again be defeated. In the years following the Great Patriotic War, as Soviet propagandists dubbed it, he was to conceive and fabricate a weapon so simple, and yet so revolutionary, that it would change the way wars were fought and won. It was the AK-47 assault rifle.
[Link]

Selangor govt decides to lift restriction on Hindu temple Gate Towers!

2008-10-07T20:25:00.006+08:00

Finally we can have the space to build temples properly!

Today's Star quoting Makkal Osai reported on the removal of restrictions on the construction of Temple "Gopurams" by the Selangor State Government.

The state government had also ordered that a piece of land must be allocated for the building of an Indian temple in each housing estate.

Lets hope all temples in Malaysia will be granted such space in the near future.
Its a good start for now, in being fair to all :)

Tuesday October 7, 2008
Selangor govt decides to lift limits on temple gate towers
Compiled by SIM LEOI LEOI, TAN SIN CHOW AND A. RAMAN.

THE Selangor government had decided to lift the earlier 7.3m limit for the construction of gopurams (entrance towers) for temples set by the previous government, Makkal Osai reported.

State Executive councillor Dr Xavier Jayakumar said that the current government had recently given approval for the construction of a temple gopuram for more than 12.8m.

He added that the previous state government had approved 929 sq metres of land, next to a sewerage reclamation pond, for the building of a temple and did not allow any extension or renovation.

He further said that the current state government had ordered that a piece of land must be allocated for the building of an Indian temple in each housing estate.

He was speaking to reporters after visiting the Tasik Kaliamman Temple in Ampang yesterday. He briefed the 300 people who were present on the state government’s plans for the Indian temples in Selangor.

He urged all Hindu temples in Selangor to register with the relevant municipal councils within a month so that the government would have a record of all temples in the state and also ensure that no temple would be demolished in the future.

He said committees fighting for ownership of land for their temples in Selangor could meet him to submit their applications.

Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a sub-heading, it denotes a separate news item.

thestar.com.my

Public Forum: World Blindness Awareness!

2008-10-07T00:02:00.001+08:00

Chandrayaan: India's First Mission to the Moon.

2008-10-06T00:17:00.006+08:00

Chandrayaan I is a Lunar mission by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)

In Chandrayaan-1, the lunar craft would be launched using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The Lunar craft would orbit around moon 100 km from moon surface.

In Chandrayaan-2, ISRO will send a moon rover on moon surface.The rover would move on wheels on the lunar surface, pick up samples of soil or rocks, do a chemical analysis and send the data to the spacecraft orbiting above.

http://www.chandrayaan-i.com/

India’s Space Ambition!

2008-10-06T00:12:00.003+08:00

The rocketing Evolution

India’s Moon mission set for this month!

2008-10-06T00:02:00.003+08:00

Chandrayaan: Oct 19 launch likely, weather permitting

19 Sep 2008 04:45:00 AM IST

BANGALORE: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday, unveiled India’s first mission to the moon Chandrayaan- 1.The Chandrayaan-1 satellite will be launched by a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.However, ISRO officials did not confirm the date of the launch, but hinted that Chandrayaan-1 could lift off on October 19 if weather permitting.

‘’The launch window could be between October 19 and October 28. But, we are slightly worried about the weather conditions due to disturbances in the East Coast. In case we are not able to launch the satellite during this period then we have two more opportunities, one in early November and the other by the end of November,’’ Chandrayaan- 1 project director M Annadurai told reporters.

The 590-kg spacecraft, which will carry 11 payloads, has been delayed by over five months but ISRO Officials said that the launch would take place well within the project time frame and that the delay would not overshoot the project cost of Rs 386 crore.

Chandrayaan-1 will carry payloads of six foreign countries __ the US, Britain, Germany, Sweden and Bulgaria __ apart from those of India.‘‘The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft along with all 11 science instruments has been fully assembled, integrated and tested.

expressbuzz.com

Malaysia-Singapore: Lower Roaming Charges For Mobile Phones!

2008-10-05T21:23:00.001+08:00

October 04, 2008 19:54 PM

Malaysia-Singapore Agree On Lower Roaming Charges For Mobile Phones

SEREMBAN, Oct 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Singapore have agreed on lower mobile phone roaming charges to encourage communication between the people of both countries.

The Minister for Energy, Water and Communications, Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor said the agreement was reached at a meeting between him and Singapore's Minister for Information,Communications and the Arts, Dr Lee Boon Yang in Bali, Indonesia recently.

"At the meeting I asked for the roaming charges to be reduced and he agreed.

"As of now, the charges are quite high when you use the mobile phone to call Singapore," he told reporters when met at the Hari raya open house hosted by Negri Sembilan Menteri Besar Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan in Kampung Tanjung, Rantau.

"This move will certainly benefit Malaysians working in Singapore and Singaporeans frequently visiting Malaysia," he added.

Shaziman also stated that he had asked the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to begin discussions on the matter with the Singapore agency responsible for telecommunications.

According to Shaziman, he had informed local telecommunications companies of the agreement and they had expressed strong support.

He also hoped the lower charges could be implemented at the soonest or by early next year.

BERNAMA

Racist Remarks by Malaysian Blogger!

2008-10-05T11:16:00.005+08:00

A Blogger known as “Sammy”, was reported to have posted anti-Indian sentiments on her blog, Life is a Drama. The blogger posted her comments after she claimed her mobile phone was stolen by two alleged Indian youths when she was having lunch on Sept 23.

Malaysiakini,
Malaysia’s leading online news portal, managed to get a copy of her original
posting, which was reported to have included comments like:
I hate Indians. It’s bad enough they are famous for being drunk and rude (most of them anyway). Now they carry the reputation of being stealer, robbers, rapist, idiots, morons, drunkard bastards and list goes on…
I am not trying to be racist but it always Indian. It’s Indian fault. I don’t care if I am sued for racism.

http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/10/03/malaysia-outrage-at-racist-blogger/

F1 Singapore Update

2008-10-03T23:43:00.006+08:00

Formula 1's first ever night GP received near-universal praise after last weekend's action packed events. Night racing was a total step into the unknown for Formula 1, but F1 fans could not have asked for a more exciting race, filled with crashes, upsets and a surprise winner.

There were a lot of driver complaints about the bumpiness of the track. But in this case their complaints were totally ignored as the bumpiness made the track more challenging and viewing the race a pleasure. Only part of the track was newly created and for the most part it was a genuine street surface, unlike the new Valencia track.

The flood lights brought the cars to life, creating a vibrant viewing experience. Singapore could not have asked for a better advertisement of itself when the surrounding city landscape and the Singapore Flyer were beamed to over 500 million global audience.

However there are still some improvements that can be made. Early road closures were a huge turn off for shoppers, affecting malls like Suntec City and Marina Square. There is also a need to address the position of the pit exit and entrance.

Latest news from the other side of the channel are saying that the Malaysian Grand Prix organisers have ruled out turning their event into a night race, but plan a late afternoon start to make the Sepang race more convenient for European television audiences.

For more details about what happened during the race itself please visit this site - http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12433_4207366,00.html

The Cost of Rising Military Expenditure and the New Asian Emergence!

2008-10-03T00:00:00.008+08:00

Military expenditure in the new millennium (2001 – 2006)

Right up to 2005 Japan remained the top military spender in Asia, investing up to 47 Billion.However,China overtook Japan as Asia’s biggest arms spender in 2006 as global military expenditures grew 3.5 percent to US$1.2 trillion, according to a Swedish research institute, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute(SIPRI).The USA remained the biggest spender spending more than 400Billion.America’s war on Terror since 2001 has drained much of its resources into this expensive affort thus becoming the probable cause of the current economic slowdown.

According to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, the cost of the Iraq war which was 50 to 60 times bigger than the Bush administration predicted was a central cause of the sub-prime banking crisis threatening the world economy, The former World Bank vice-president yesterday said the war had, so far, cost the US something like $US3trillion ($3.3 trillion) compared with the $US50-$US60-billion predicted in 2003.
< http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23286149-2703,00.html >

Religious Enforcement succeeds!

2008-10-02T20:13:00.003+08:00

66 nabbed for not respecting Ramadan.

By Irene C

Number of Muslims caught for offences drops, says Daud

KUCHING: The number of Muslims caught for not respecting the month of Ramadan in Sarawak has dropped by nearly 50 per cent this year compared to 2007.

Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Islamic Affairs) Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman said only 66 Muslim were caught for offences such as eating, drinking or smoking in public this year, compared to 126 last year.

Daud said he hoped the number of Muslims committing such offences will continue to decrease in time to come...

theborneopost

India Bans Smoking in public places!

2008-10-02T17:29:00.004+08:00

India has banned smoking in public places from today(2nd Oct) in an attempt to fight tobacco which is blamed for the death of a fifth of all deaths in India.Offenders will be fined 200 Rupees.

Everyone agrees, that implementing the ban could be a problem and much will depend on compliance rather than enforcement.

How effective is enforcement going to be in the largest democracy of the world???

Could this lead to a rise in corruption associated with the police???

The Unseen Forces - Technology and the Spiritual!

2008-10-02T00:25:00.006+08:00

Teleportation and Spirituality

Teleportation is the ability of moving matter from one point in time and space to another point in time and space instantaneously. There are different types of teleportation available at this time both visual and physical teleportation are possible and we use visual teleportation as our starting point. The different types of visual teleportation are. visual body or astral body teleportation, or visual object teleportation but before we can master teleportation we must first learn the art of Telekinesis/Psychokinesis and Clairsentience and the higher state of consciousness the seventh sense. Other abilities useful in teleportation are Tele-Visualization and ESP (Extrasensory Perception). The ability of teleportation is used in Time travel, Interstellar travel, and Dimensional travel. Teleportation is the near instantaneous transport of the Psychic from one location to another and there is no other form of travel faster then teleportation Teleporting An Visual Object.

http://home.xtra.co.nz/hosts/Wingmakers/Teleportation.html

The connection I am trying to make here is in the ability of ancient Siddhars, the enlightened souls or saints/yogis of India in Teleporting themselves to different places.Yogic powers called Siddhis are acquired by constant meditation and practice of certain Yogic disciplines. Those who acquire these Siddhis are called Siddhars and teleportation is just one among the wide range of Siddhis that they possess.

Typically Siddhars were saints, doctors, alchemists and mysticists all at once. They wrote their findings, in the form of poems in Tamil language, on palm leaf which are collected and stored in what are known today as Palm leaf manuscript, today still owned by private families in Tamil Nadu and handed down through the generations, as well as public institutions such as Universities the world over (India, Germany, Great Britain, U.S.A.).

Powers of Siddhars

The Siddhars are believed to have had powers both major and other ‘minor’ powers. They are explained in detail in various Yogic as well as religious texts;Thirumandiram 668:

1. To become tiny as the atom within the atom (Anima)
2. To become big in unshakeable proportions (Mahima)
3. To become as light as vapour in levitation (Laghima)
4. To become as heavy as the mountain (Garima)
5. To enter into other bodies in transmigration (Prapti)
6. To be in all things,omni-pervasive (Prakamya)
7. To be lord of all creation in omnipotence (Isatvam)
8. To be everywhere in omnipresence (Vasitvam)

These eight are the Great Siddhis, or Great Perfections.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddhar

Here is something else I stumbled upon during my research.It is called Project White Horse.Written by Ashok Kumara (Seattle, USA) on Jan 9, 2008 (updated on Jan 13, 2008).Below are some of the interesting parts relevant to our topic.

Powers of enlightened beings (EB):

•Ability to shift awareness into the fifth dimension (the dimension of light) and invoke
celestial experiences at own will, including devotion/love, which is nothing but oneness
with the object of contemplation.

•Ability to play with sound energy which includes emotions.

•Ability to understand deep concepts and articulate with clarity.

•Ability to connect with ascended masters (siddhas) through telepathy and astral meeting (i.e.
meeting of light bodies) and receive inspirations and creative ideas.

•Ability to assist seekers in invoking glimpses of blissful experiences. EB can only be an
Acharya, not a Guru. Guru means immortal light, and exists within the seeker.

•Ability to manifest dreams into reality

•Ability to maintain a healthy body for a long time.

•Ability to teleport matter (i.e. move matter from one place to another instantly, giving theappearance of materialization). Only some of the beings have this ability. This art can be
learnt by all enlightened beings if they so desire. This is a cheap trick, and most EBs do not
care about this ability. True creation is materializing matter directly from thought and this
ability can be learnt only after ascension (see the section on evolution process)

http://www.sadhanaschoolofarts.com/PDF/WhiteForce.pdf

For more informaion on the Siddhar Tradition read "Babaji and the 18 Siddha Kriya Yoga Tradition"

Teleportation Tutorial : Based On Tesla's Magnetic Wall Theory

Today, our gadgetry and electronics rely on unseen forces as much as we rely on them. The following effect celebrates the wonders of natural science and the impossibilities made possible through man-made technology....more from metacafe

Canada PM faces Plagiarism Claim and Speechwriter RESIGNS!

2008-10-01T19:40:00.007+08:00

Portions of the speeches played side by side - WATCH!

Wednesday, 1 October 2008
BBC News

A Canadian Conservative Party speech-writer has resigned after Prime Minister Stephen Harper was accused of plagiarism in a speech he made in 2003.

Mount Kailash / Kailasam

2008-10-01T15:51:00.009+08:00

The Sacred Mountain

The towering 22028 ft high peak Mt. Kailash in the Himalayas, a great mass of black rock,25 miles north of the Mansarovar lake is hailed as the abode of Lord Shiva by Hindus. It is an arduous trek to Kailash through the snow clad Himalayas and is attempted only by a few. The Tibetians refer to Kailash as Kangrimpoche (Jewel of Snow). Kailash is also referred to as Hemakootam.

Kailasam is considered sacred by four religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Bön faith. In Hindu religion, it is considered to be the abode of Lord Shiva. The mountain lies near Lake Manasarowar and Lake Rakshastal in Tibet. There have been no recorded attempts to climb Mount Kailash; it is considered off limits to climbers in deference to Buddhist and Hindu beliefs. It is the most significant peak in the world that has not seen any known climbing attempts.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kailash)

The Buddhists refer to the sacred mountain as Kangri Karchchak; they regard the presiding deity of Mt. Kailash as Deity with three eyes, holding the damaru and the trishul; his consort is referred to as Dorje Fangmo. The Jains regard Mt. Kailash as the Ashtapada mountain where the first Tirtankara Adinath (Rishabhadeva) attained nirvana.

(http://www.templenet.com/Tamilnadu/s070.html)

Followers of Bon, Tibet's pre-Buddhist, shamanistic religion, call the mountain Tise and believe it to be the seat of the Sky Goddess Sipaimen. Additionally, Bon myths regard Tise as the sight of a legendary 12^th century battle of sorcery between the Buddhist sage Milarepa and the Bon shaman Naro Bon-chung. Milarepa's defeat of the shaman displaced Bon as the primary religion of Tibet, firmly establishing Buddhism in its place. While the Buddha is believed to have magically visited Kailash in the 5^th century BC, the religion of Buddhism only entered Tibet, via Nepal and India, in the 7^th century AD. Tibetan Buddhists call the mountain Kang Rimpoche, the 'Precious One of Glacial Snow', and regard it as the dwelling place of Demchog (also known as Chakrasamvara) and his consort, Dorje Phagmo. Three hills rising near Kang Rimpoche are believed to be the homes of the the Bodhisatvas Manjushri, Vajrapani, and Avalokiteshvara.
Pilgrims to Kailash, after the difficult journey getting there, are then confronted with the equally arduous task of circumambulating the sacred peak. This walking around the mountain (clockwise for the Buddhists, counter-clockwise for Bon adherents) is known as a Kora, or Parikrama, and normally takes three days. In hopes of gaining extra merit or psychic powers however, some pilgrims will vary the tempo of their movement. A hardy few, practicing a secret breathing technique known as Lung-gom, will power themselves around the mountain in only one day. Others will take two to three weeks for the Kora by making full body prostrations the entire way. It is believed that a pilgrim who completes 108 journeys around the mountain is assured enlightenment. Most pilgrims to Kailash will also take a short plunge in the nearby, highly sacred (and very cold) Lake Manosaravar. The word 'manas' means mind or consciousness; the name Manosaravar means Lake of Consciousness and Enlightenment. Adjacent to Manosaravar is Rakas Tal or Rakshas, the Lake of Demons. Pilgrimage to this great sacred mountain and these two magical lakes is a life changing experience and an opportunity to view some of the most magical scenery on the entire planet.

http://www.sacredsites.com/asia/tibet/mt_kailash.html

Is Time Travelling possible???

2008-09-30T21:08:00.006+08:00

Ever since Einstein revealed his special theory of relativity, we've known that time travel—at least moving forward through time—is possible.

So how does time travel work?

Theory of relativity - the Basics

...the speed of light in a vacuum is constant and an absolute physical boundary for motion. This does not have a major impact on a person's day to day life since we travel at speeds much slower than light speed. For objects traveling near light speed, however, the theory of relativity states that objects will move slower and shorten in length from the point of view of an observer on Earth. Einstein also derived the famous equation, E = mc², which reveals the equivalence of mass and energy. When Einstein applied his theory to gravitational fields, he derived the "curved space-time continuum" which depicts the dimensions of space and time as a two-dimensional surface where massive objects create valleys and dips in the surface. This aspect of relativity explained the phenomena of light bending around the sun, predicted black holes as well as the background radiation left from the Big Bang. For his work on relativity, the photoelectric effect and blackbody radiation, Einstein received the Nobel Prize in 1921.

http://www.allaboutscience.org/theory-of-relativity.htm

In simple words...if we can travel at the speed of light, we can break the time barrier.

One simple question which should be taken into consideration is that if some sort of vehicle is created can the human body withstand that kind of speed???

It is just a theory though :)

"Race" Conversions only happen in Malaysia!

2008-09-30T12:39:00.005+08:00

Can you convert to another race???

I came across some articles in MALAYSIAKINI which you might find interesting as they seem to highlight something that we have long taken for granted as The Way of the World, for Malaysia at least! Here it is commonly assumed and understood that by virtue of of conversion to Islam you constitutionally become a Malay.

Umno full of 'non-Malay' leaders
by Jamiliah Kassim | Nov 19, 07 4:34pm

The Indian-Muslim opportunists in Umno
by AM Raj | Nov 21, 07 6:16pm

Some points from these articles.

Malaysia is the only place in the world where one can change one’s race.
Many of them, indeed, occupy senior positions in Umno.
There is another Umno leader whose late father was a state MIC chief!
They continue to make a mockery of the New Economic Policy by grabbing opportunities meant for the bumiputeras.

Are these people trying so hard to convert to become the "Malay" merely for reasons associated to the Malay special rights or is it simply fashionable these days to be called a Malay and ostracizing your own? Indeed we are a long way from a bANGSA mALAYSIA

SAPP and UPKO - the power balance!

2008-09-30T00:09:00.010+08:00

How significant are they?
What harm could an UPKO exit do to (Sabah) BN, already hit by the SAPP withdrawal???
Do examine the chart below.

UPKO: NRD making locals foreigners and foreigners citizens!

2008-09-29T22:44:00.003+08:00

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Upko is threatening to review its position in the Barisan Nasional if the National Registration Department fails to rectify its mistake of making an elderly bumiputra citizen into a permanent resident.

Related links

Call for Sabahan to lead state's National Registration Department

Sabah's Upko Party mulls leaving BN over NRD's incompetence

Will UPKO dare to follow the footsteps of SAPP???