Posts Tagged ‘Penang’

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More committees to solve temple and Tamil schools problems

June 29th, 2007
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only word that stands out is committee. i remember MHS having a committee to discuss temple demolition. Then followed by Perak or Penang which asked its EXCO to lead a committee for temple relocation etc. Now, MIC want to have another set of committee…
 
Assume 3 schools merge into one -> 150 schools become 50 schools. 523 – 150 + 50 = 423 schools. We also seem to hear MIC always discussing with education ministry. What is the outcome of these discussions so far?
 
 
 
MIC wants space in new housing estates for temples
Minderjeet Kaur
source
KUALA LUMPUR, Fri:
 

MIC will ask for space for Hindu temples at new housing estates where there are a lot of Hindus, to stop the sprouting of illegal temples nationwide.

MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said illegal temples were becoming a major issue within the Indian community.

"They will continue building illegal temples unless we provide them space in their housing estate," he said after chairing the MIC central working committee here yesterday.

He said MIC also wanted to combine smaller temples and would propose that the government provide additional land for this purpose.

For a start, he said MIC state Exco members from each state would be asked to set up a committee which would be directed to meet every temple head and compile the feedback.
 

"The committee will also inform the temple heads not to build any illegal temples."

Samy Vellu said the party was looking at merging partially-aided schools with fewer than 50 pupils.

"Some schools have three teachers with four pupils. We are proposing to merge some of the smaller schools to increase the number of pupils," he said, adding the party would work on merging some 150 small schools.

"With the increase in number of students, we can ask for government assistance to provide more facilities in these schools."

He said the move would allow them to monitor and enhance the educational level of the students and provide transport for those staying far from their schools.

On the discussions by party leaders with Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein on the future of these schools, he said: "We discussed problems faced by some of these small schools. Some teachers do not receive salaries and schools are running without any facilities."

He said MIC would organise talks with headmasters and the parent-teacher associations from these schools to get their feedback and ways to improve the standards of the schools.

He added some of schools saw a decline in the number of students after most of the former estate workers migrated to cities.

"Previously, these schools had 120 to 150 students. But after the migration, the number has dropped drastically."

There are 523 Tamil schools nationwide.

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Is Jeanne a Malay? Yes, says UMNO Kepala Batas

June 25th, 2007
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got this from forwarded email.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Vegetable… <>
Date: Jun 21, 2007 10:50 PM
Subject: [www.umic.com.my] Is Jeanne a Malay? Yes, says UMNO Kepala Batas
To:

By kuda ranggi

It is not a surprise when Datin Seri Jeanne (Danker) Abdullah was
accepted as an UMNO member in the Kepala Batas division, Penang,
headed by her “charming” husband-cum-Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad.

Some people are asking when did Jeanne, a Eurasian, “converted to be a
Malay ” thus qualified to be a card-carrying member of UMNO, the
biggest Malay political party heading the grand coalition government
known as Barisan Nasional or National Front?

As I said it is no surprise if, firstly, one looks at the definition
of “Malay” in the Federal Constitution, and secondly she is the wife
of the Prime Minister who is also UMNO President, and thirdly
thousands of Indian Muslims, Arabs, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Siamese,
among others, have been accepted as UMNO members. Not forgetting the
Bumiputeras of Sabah who are not Muslims.

Once upon a time in Penang, several UMNO branches in the Tanjong
Division conducted their meetings in Tamil, their division leader then
was a Tamil Muslim and most of the branches in the city were headed by
Tamil Muslims. UMNO recognised them as “Malays” although they did not
speak Malay at home or conform to Malay custom.

Article 161 of the Federal Constitution defines a Malay as “a person
who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay
language and conforms to Malay custom”. On top of that, the persons or
their parents have to be born or domiciled in Malaya or Singapore
before Merdeka Day (31 August 1957).

The UMNO constitution or Perlembagaan UMNO stated that any citizen of
Malaysia belonging to the Malay race or Bumiputera aged 18 and above
can be accepted as an ordinary member of the party.

In Malay: Fasal 4.2 Ahli Biasa ialah Warganegara Malaysia yang
berbangsa Melayu atau Bumiputera yang berusia 18 tahun ke atas.

The key words are “yang berbangsa Melayu” or a Malay (by race) or
Bumiputera (sons of the soil). A Bumiputera is not necessarily a
Muslim. Not all Bumiputeras in Sabah and Sarawak, for example, and the
Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia are Muslims. They are free to join
UMNO.

UMNO is not, in reality, a Malay political party. It is a Bumiputera
political party and not all Bumiputeras are Muslims.

The party’s war-cary of “Hidup Melayu” should be change to “Hidup Bumiputera”.

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Kannan Murugesan – Ironman

June 23rd, 2007
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From an Ironman to an Ultraman

source

By STUART MICHAEL
metro@thestar.com.my
Photos by S.S KANESAN 

FITNESS buff Kannan Murugasan is one man who is determined to reach for the stars as far as fitness is concerned. 

Cruise control: Kannan embarks on weekly rides of 100km to 180km to get himself ready for the Ultraman.

The 33-year-old, who has taken part in seven Ironman Triathlon competitions, now wants to do the Ultraman in Canada from Sept 1-3 and will use his own money to compete there. 

Unlike the Ironman that has a 3.8km swim, 180.2km cycling and a 42.2km run, the Ultraman is a gruelling 10km swim, 418km cycling and 84.3km run in 36 hours, that is more than double a triathlon event. 

Ultraman is twice to three times harder than Ironman. 

If Kannan completes the Ultraman, he will be the first Malaysian to finish this race and it would be a feat that only a handful of Malaysians dare to take. 

Kannan said that he has always looked forward to doing things that people rarely venture into and it was more timely since Malaysia is celebrating its 50th year of independence. 

“Obesity and health problems are on the rise and by doing this, I want to send a message to all Malaysians to start somewhere, be it walking for 15 minutes, and you can be doing the impossible someday, like me. 

“Given a lot determination and persistence, anyone can accomplish the impossible,” said Kannan, who had his best finish in the 2005 Hawaii Ironman World Championship with a time of 13 hours and 29 minutes.  

The Penangite is living proof as he does not come from an athletic background. 

Kannan obtained an Electromechanical Engineering diploma at the Federal Institute of Technology in 1996 and became an engineer but that is not his desire but his father’s wish. 

“Then, I joined Fitness First four years ago and now have my own mobile fitness concept called Mission Fit,” he said. 

Chong Huey Yin, 30, who has been training under Kannan for the last three years, hoped that he does well in the upcoming Ultraman, and makes Malaysia proud. 

As regular face in Ironman events, Kannan has been training for a month. 

His training regimen includes attending seven cycling classes a week and weekend ride that covers 100 to 180km in Cameron Highlands, Hulu Langat and Putrajaya. 

He also swims about one-and-a-half hours each day on weekdays and runs on the treadmill at least 80km a week with some weight training. 

“The next 60 days will be the toughest training that I will endure. In fact, my metabolic rate is so high that I feel hungry every two hours and sweat very easily. 

“My hope is just to finish the race in 36 hours and prove to foreigners abroad that Malaysia Boleh!” hesaid. 

Those interested in having a personal trainer or sponsoring him for Ultraman, can contact at 019-383 0447 or missionfit@gmail.com. 

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Boom in Chinese school enrolment

June 21st, 2007
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Number of chinese schools has reduced from 1342 (1957) to 1288 (2006). Which  is 54 schools less, roughly one school closed down every year. but the enrolment has nearly doubled from 361,208 (1957) to 636,124 (2006) students.
 
I suppose Tamil schools also have some increase in enrolment, due to use of English in school, better academic performance over the years, and commitment of teachers from Tamil schools.
 
poobalan
 
 
Boom in Chinese school enrolment

PENANG: Enrolment at Chinese primary schools in the country has increased by almost 80% since independence, although the number of such schools has gone down. 

Chinese education activist Loot Ting Yee said there were 1,342 Chinese primary schools with 361,208 pupils in 1957 compared with 1,288 schools with 636,124 pupils last year. 

Comparatively, he said there were 2,198 national primary schools with 442,477 pupils in 1957 compared with 5,774 schools with 2,298,808 pupils last year. 

Loot is chairman of the Lim Lean Geok (LLG) Cultural Development Centre that promotes Chinese education.  

He is also the former vice-chairman of Jiao Zong (United Chinese School Teachers Association of Malaysia). 

He said that one of the reasons why the enrolment in Chinese schools had increased was due to the change in the medium of instruction in schools from English to Bahasa Malaysia. 

“Many parents send their children to Chinese schools so that they could learn three languages,” he added.  

Loot said Chinese primary schools currently faced a shortage of 2,000 to 3,000 teachers.

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Grandlotus Travel Agencies wins visa processing tender for India

June 19th, 2007
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Travel agency to handle visa service for India
 

KUALA LUMPUR: The Indian High Commission here has outsourced the processing of visas to a local travel agency. 

Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia Ashok Kantha said that from Aug 1, Grandlotus Travel Agencies Sdn Bhd would collect visa applications from those intending to visit India, and submit them to the high commission for vetting and affixing of visa stamps in the passports. 

He said the company was chosen from 23 that had submitted bids for the outsourcing of visa applications. 

“The high commission received 82,000 applications for visas last year, with a growth of between 8% to 10% in the last three years,” he said. 

He added that Malaysia was the third country where the processing was outsourced, after the United States and Britain. 

He was speaking to reporters after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the high commission's First Secretary, Sudhir Kumar Mehrotra, and Grandlotus chairman K. Thangavelu here yesterday. 

Grandlotus will set up processing centres here, and in Penang and Johor Baru.

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