Archive for November, 2008

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Yoga ban for Malaysian Muslims

November 22nd, 2008
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So, its finally announced that Yoga is not allowed for Muslims. Read it at Malaysiakini and The Star.

One person told me it’s a good news – One less Hinduism knowledge to be exploited by others and its their loss, so why should Hindus cry over it.

The Fatwa council says the physical movements, chanting and worshipping aspects of yoga makes it haram. So, unless those yoga centers manage to strip Yoga of the above three things, its time to put a notice “for non-muslims only”.

Well, I’m not sure whose loss it is, but definitely there are many ways to overcome this ban. One can go to other countries and learn it there 🙂 It seems only Singapore and Egypt has similar bans.

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Posted in BornInMalaysia, Religion

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Referendum the way forward?

November 22nd, 2008
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I have not heard the word referendum and Malaysia in the same breath so far. Is it the first time in the last 30 years? Hope someone can clarify.

Anyway, Perak will be holding a refererendum to decide if Jalan Silibin be renamed to Jalan Patto. I hope the referendum is conducted so that we can see what the Ipoh people think. Don’t cancel it due to some reason or another.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin announced that a referendum would be held on whether the road should keep its name or be changed to honour P. Patto, the late DAP stalwart.

Nizar said the referendum would be organised by state executive councillor A. Sivanesan, and the state government would abide by the people’s decision.

“The state government will abide by the people’s stand.

“The referendum will gather everyone’s views rather than a small segment of city dwellers.”

Numerous groups have protested against the move, forcing the state government to hold the referendum.

Several state DAP leaders, including Sivanesan, had remained steadfast in their campaign to rename Jalan Silibin, despite increasing dissent from businesses and residents.

Ipoh Barat member of parliament M. Kulasegaran said a survey conducted by DAP members revealed that 70 of the 100 respondents had agreed to the proposal.

The DAP vice-chairman and local councillor added that many residents were agreeable to the renaming of the road when he met them personally.

Speaking to reporters at the Parliament lobby, in Kuala Lumpur, yesterday, Kulasegaran along with DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, said the road had no historical significance.

They said it would be fitting to rename the road after Patto as he was a former MP of the area.

Kulasegaran said DAP had not made a final decision on the issue and was still gathering feedback.

He said DAP would organise a public consultation session through the Ipoh City Council next month.

What do you think? Are referendums good? Should the public be exposed to all possible data/information before referendums so that they can make a better decision?

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Posted in BornInMalaysia

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Cabinet Committee meeting only once

November 21st, 2008
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I was wondering what happened to the cabinet committee on indian community. After the first meeting, it was supposed to have another one in August or September. No one actually talked about the second meeting. And I thought I missed. Now, Samy says only one meeting was held so far.

MIC is asking for another committee – this time to coordinate the RM50 million to help Tamil schools. Good thing – but hopefully it would hold more than one meeting every four months.

As for the proposals, the MIC is asking for speedier processing so that PNB can start selling units to Indians and schools can be renovated/rebuilt. If nothing moves in the next 6 months, then its will be a humiliation to MIC. Already 2 months over and nothing happened. How long should the community wait for “good news”, “agreement in principle”, “decisions”, “allocations”, etc to materialise?

The MIC has urged the Government to set up a committee to co-ordinate the rebuilding and refurbishing of Tamil schools using a RM50mil allocation under the stimulus package.

Its president, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, said the proposal would be tabled by secretary-general Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam, who is also the Human Resources Minister, at the next Cabinet meeting.

“We want 60% of the Tamil schools to be rebuilt or refurbished before 2011,” he said in a statement here yesterday.

There are 523 Tamil schools in the country.

Samy Vellu said the party also urged the Government to expedite the implementation of the proposals submitted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to increase equity participation of Indians.

“The proposals include the setting up of a mechanism within the Perbadanan Nasional Bhd to assist poor Indians to buy shares through a 50% grant and 50% loan from the Government,” he said.

Samy Vellu said they would ask Najib, the chairman of the Cabinet Committee for the development of Indians, to hold a meeting every three months. The last meeting was on July 1.

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Posted in Indian, Tamil-Schools

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MIC asks 7 percent for indians in civil service

November 21st, 2008
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For all categories. They are getting smart now. But should have asked for 10 percent. I think government jobs will provide stability that may encourage couples to have more than 2 children. MIC also will monitor it seems. Hopefully they will share their findings from time to time.

The Cabinet has given an assurance that more Indians will be recruited into the civil service in the near future, Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr. S.Subramaniam said today.

He said the cabinet and the government were committed to ensuring that more applications by Indians would be approved based on their job descriptions and merit.

“The MIC urges the Public Service Commission (PSC) to ensure a minimum intake of at least seven per cent for all job categories in the public service,” Subramaniam, who is also MIC secretary-general, said in a statement here.

He said the MIC was monitoring the intake of Indians into the civil service and would raise the matter from time to time to ensure that the seven per cent target was achieved.

Meanwhile, Samy Vellu says they will request for more Indians in the Public Services Commission (Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam – SPA). He was unhappy that only 105 Indians were selected for jobs.

He said the MIC would also request for more Indian representation in the Public Services Commission.

“We are also not satisfied that only 105 Indians of the 2,000 Indians called for interviews by the Public Services Department were selected. Their selection was based on their CGPA grades. We feel the PSD should have also considered their SPM/STPM results.”

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Posted in Indian

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Tamil dictionaries online

November 21st, 2008
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Hmm…Prema akka asked what is “animation” in tamil. Got us stumped. And after searching the Internet, I found a list of English to Tamil dictionaries at Lexicool.

I tried the first one on that list: TamilDict and found out that animation is “asaivuuttam”.

Cool ha?

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Posted in Personal, TechStuff