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Ranking: Three Malaysian universities enter Top 500

PETALING JAYA: Three Malaysian universities have made it to the top 500 out of 12,000 universities ranked in the Webometrics Ranking Web of World Universities released Saturday.

They are Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (419), Universiti Sains Malaysia (428) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (462).

This is the first time that Malaysian varsities have entered into the top 500 since the ranking's inception in 2004.

Meanwhile, American universities dominate the Webometrics ranking, with the top five universities being the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Stanford University, Cornell University, and the University of California, Berkeley respectively.

The ranking is an initiative by the Cybermetrics Lab, a research group part of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientficas (CSIC) in Spain.

According to the Webometrics website, the aim of the rankings is to encourage universities to have a better web presence and researchers to publish more scientific content on the internet.

Among the main indicators used to analyse university web presence are the size or number of web pages recovered from search engines; visibility; number of rich files available; and the number of citations found in Google Scholar.

The rankings are published every six months, and survey around 20,000 higher education institutions worldwide.

Ref: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/7/30/nation/20110730194506&sec=nation

Malaysia Day is a public Holiday

KUALA LUMPUR: Beginning next year, Sept 16, which is Malaysia Day has been declared a public holiday.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the day would involve activities that would foster the 1Malaysia spirit.

He added this meant Malaysians would have a twin celebration, to commemorate the country’s independence starting next year

Najib said National Day on Aug 31 would be celebrated with formal events such as a parade to commemorate the historical moment and it would remind the people about the struggle in achieving independence from the colonists.

He made the announcement during the question-and-answer session at Parliament on Monday.

Najib said Sabah and Sarawak, which joined Malaysia in 1963 and the formation of Malaysia as an independent country was a very important moment in history.

“We want the joy and sorrows of the people in Sabah and Sarawak to be felt by the people in the Peninsula,” he said.

“Therefore, I would like to announce to the people of Malaysia that the Cabinet has recently made the decision to celebrate Hari Malaysia on Sept 16 starting 2010.”

Malaysia Day would be celebrated with events that would foster closer unity, understanding between the different races and community success and achievement through sports, social culture and arts, to spur the 1Malaysia spirit, he added.

adapted from The Star; http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/10/19/nation/20091019103509&sec=nation

1Malaysia Lotus F1 Team 2010

1Malaysia: The making of the Late Yasmin Ahmad's "chocolate" and the full version

USM 40th Convocation

The 40th convocation of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) will be held from Wednesday, 12 August 2009 till Sunday, 16 August 2009 at the Tuanku Syed Putra Hall, USM, Pulau Pinang.

Visit http://registry.usm.my/konvo/default.asp for datails

NGV blast

SUBANG JAYA: An NGV-powered Proton Waja exploded in the car park at an apartment in Serdang Jaya yesterday, killing its driver and destroying three other vehicles.

K. Mailvaganan, 43, was found slumped in the front seat of the car at about 6.45am by police officers who were alerted to an explosion at Skyvilla Apartments.

It is learnt that Mailvaganan, a limousine driver, might have fallen asleep inside the car with the engine running.

A security guard at the apartment said he heard the loud explosion before seeing a cloud of black smoke from one of the CCTV images.

Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar said that based on initial police investigations, there was no element of foul play.

Adapted from : http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/5/nation/4260042&sec=nation

Government doctors still not being paid their due

“Deal for government docs reasonable” (The Star, May 12) by the PSD which stated that the initial salary of government Medical Officers was the highest compared with those of other schemes of service in the public sector????? Is it a myth or reality?

DATO’ DR KHOO KAH LIN, President, MMA said....

1.R egards to the on-call allowance, we would like to point out that the RM150 per night is only for medical officers doing “active” on-call duty, i.e. working 16 hours per day beyond their normal working hours

2. Not all medical officers are given the opportunity to do RM80 per hour for locum work, as the extended clinic hours (5pm to 9pm) only involve 16 polyclinics and the locum work is mostly done by the doctors working at a particular polyclinic and doctors working at other polyclinics.

3. The actual UD44 salary at P1T1 is RM3,028.90 with fixed allowances of RM1,450.00 (including critical allowance of RM750, housing allowance of RM400, elaun khidmat awam of RM300 and COLA RM100 to RM300 depending on the location) and not a salary of RM6,000 per month

Conclusion : MMA has repeatedly requested the Government to introduce a separate service scheme for government doctors from that of other civil servants, as a doctor’s undergraduate training is longer at between five and six years, compared with other professionals.

Ref: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/6/3/focus/4003932&sec=focus

From Deputy Director-General of Health (Medical)

DATUK DR NOOR HISHAM ABDULLAH said;

The MOH affirmed that only medical officers from recognised universities are accepted to work as contract officers in line with the requirements of the Medical Act 1971.

These medical officers are given full registration and Annual Practicing Certificates as per their contracts. Therefore, they can only practise medicine at the specified MOH facilities.

Hence under the Act, they cannot practise in universities or act as locums in private clinics or private hospitals.

While working with the MOH, these contract doctors are not allowed to join the Masters Programme in public universities.

Ref: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/29/focus/21387338&sec=focus

from Minister of Health

Liow also said that doctors at government hospitals, who were on call, were now allowed to be off the next day

Liow also urged more private sector doctors to volunteer their time at government medical establishments at least once a month. “It is national service and we pay a token fee of RM80 an hour,” he said.

Liow said as of two weeks ago, doctors at government hospitals were required to place their names at the beds of patients to create a “patient ownership” environment.

Ref: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/28/nation/21376236&sec=nation

Fast relaying of info can help to save lives, says Health Minister

Getting the vital medical statistics of a patient in an ambulance to a hospital even before the vehicle gets there is the latest digital project to be considered by the Health Ministry. Its minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said that if implemented, medical assistants in the ambulances would be able to obtain help from emergency rooms to treat the patient during the journey to the hospital. He added that patient information such as blood pressure reading, pulse, breathing rate and ECG could be transmitted to the control centres. Liow also said that 400 ambulances were needed in the future to serve Malaysians efficiently. An initial 100 units worth about RM30mil has been ordered and another 100 will be bought soon.
Ref: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/9/nation/21199795&sec=nation

My questions are do the minister knows that many district hospitals in Malaysia do not have even a pulse oxymeter at their emergency units. Most of current ambulances available under the ministry of health do not have proper equipment such as BP set, pulse oxymeter and ECG monitoring device. So why spend millions of ringgits just for ICT when most basic requirements can not be provided. Even, we do not have enough number of trained medical assistant for our ambulance services. I do hope the ministry will study the plan properly. Advances in IT we have may appear great among the developing countries, but it will not be a wise decision when the basic needs can not be fulfilled.

Drive-through counter at Penang Hospital soon

Patients with chronic ailments may soon enjoy “drive through” facilities to collect their medication instead of having to wait at government hospital pharmacies.

Health Ministry director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said a pilot project would begin at the Penang Hospital in three months to study its feasibility.

“They will not have to come on their work day. They can get their medication after office hours or on weekends,” he said.

He said patients would be able to make a telephone call or send an SMS to the pharmacy ahead of making the collection.

Dr Ismail said “e-prescribing” – the computerisation of medicine prescriptions – had seen a decrease of the number of prescription errors.

Ref: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/27/nation/21073354&sec=nation

Convocation in USM

The Universiti Sains Malaysia convocation scheduled for March 22. USM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dzulkifli Abdul Razak said the second part of the 37th convocation, is meant for its foreign graduates. He said the USM’s 38th convocation would be held in August.

Higher Pay For Alll

PUTRAJAYA: At least 2,000 graduate house officers in government hospitals will get an automatic promotion to grade UD44 upon completion of their two-year housemanship in 2010.
They will be getting at least RM6,000 including allowances every month, which is almost double what the present graduate house officers are getting on grade UD41.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said the promotion exercise would cost RM1.7mil annually.
He added that at least 7,000 doctors on grades UD41 and UD44, who were appointed before 2008, would also get their long overdue promotions. This would cost another RM9.8mil.
He said many doctors had been stuck at UD41 for six to seven years and that they would be moved to the higher scale of UD44.
“Hopefully, this promotion exercise will indirectly encourage many doctors to remain in the civil service,” he said.
Dr Ismail denied allegations by certain parties that there were not enough opportunities for other races compared to Malays in the medical sector.
He said that from 2000 to February this year, there were 2,085 specialists of whom 56% were Malays, Chinese (23.7%) and Indians (19.3% ).
He said 55% of the specialists on grade UD48 were Malays, 23% Chinese and 18.2% Indians. As for UD54, it was 58% Malay, 21% Chinese and 16% Indian.
Of the specialists under special grade C, he said 51.1% were Malays and Chinese and Indians made up 24% each.
As for those under special grade B, he said that 42% were Malays with the Chinese and Indians making up 24% and 34% respectively

Ref: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/3/6/nation/20080306070517&sec=nation

Barisan Nasional's Election Manifesto

OUR PROMISE:

ECONOMY

􀂄 Raise the nation’s productivity, income and competitiveness levels
􀂄 Cushion the effects of rising prices and ensure quality living standards for the people
􀂄 Strengthen private sector’s role as the main driver of economic growth
􀂄 Nurture and assist 1 million SMEs and entrepreneurs over 5 years
􀂄 Generate at least 2 million quality job opportunities over 5 years
􀂄 Reduce the Budget deficit further –more funds for development, without increasing taxes
􀂄 Follow through on 5 Development Corridors to bring equitable growth, investment and job opportunities to all parts of Malaysia

DEVELOPMENT

􀂄 Eradicate hardcore poverty and bring the overall poverty rate down to 2.8% by 2010
􀂄 Increase quality rural jobs and incomes
􀂄 Improve services and facilities for low-income urban households including rural to urban migrants
􀂄 Improve provision of quality and affordable housing
􀂄 Ensure access to modern quality healthcare
􀂄 Upgrade urban public transport and reduce traffic congestion
􀂄 Enhance road development in rural and other less developed areas
􀂄 Upgrade rail and aviation infrastructure
􀂄 Improve rural electricity coverage in Sabah to 81% and Sarawak to 90% by 2010
􀂄 Improve water supply coverage to 70% in both Sabah and Sarawak by 2010
􀂄 Continue to close the digital divide and improve broadband internet penetration via the National Broadband Plan
􀂄 Continue to implement the New Villages Development Masterplan
􀂄 Equitable distribution of quality opportunities in income generation, employment, business and education to all parts of Malaysia. Towards this end, the ‘Kelantan Baru, Kelantan Maju’
initiative will deliver development and better quality of life to people in the state

EDUCATION

􀂄 Raise teachers’ minimum qualifications and provide more training opportunities
􀂄 Continue to make national schools the school of choice by, among others, expanding the teaching of Mandarin and Tamil
􀂄 Safeguard the position of national-type schools
􀂄 Enhance national unity by fostering student interaction
􀂄 Provide more scholarships at the undergraduate level for poor but deserving students
regardless of race
􀂄 Identify apex universities and provide more autonomy and resources for public institutions of higher learning to attain world-class standards
􀂄 Raise investment in science and technology particularly in indigenous R&D

LAW & ORDER

􀂄 Bring down the country’s crime index
􀂄 Tackle drug abuse and other social ills
􀂄 Address the issue of illegal immigrants
􀂄 Add 60,000 Police personnel by 2011
􀂄 Set up more than 150 new Police stations and beat bases to increase presence in more neighbourhoods
􀂄 Improve safety in schools, playgrounds and public areas
􀂄 Enhance community policing via partnerships with non-governmental organisations, the
private sector and local community
􀂄 Upgrade Police communications technology, armaments, vehicles, technical aids and training
􀂄 Focus Police operations and resources in crime hot-spots across the country
􀂄 Redelineate Police districts to better match Police resources with community security needs

PUBLIC SERVICES
􀂄 Speed up implementation of e-government initiatives
􀂄 Complete overhaul of all land offices and district offices
􀂄 Speed up issuance of licences and permits
􀂄 Establish rating system for local authorities to improve performance
􀂄 Tie civil servants' promotions, rewards and penalties more closely to performance targets
􀂄 Increase ethnic diversity in the public sector
􀂄 Have a 3 to 7-day response time by all government agencies to all public queries and complaints

REDUCING CORRUPTION AND IMPROVING GOVERNANCE
􀂄 Continue to enforce anti-corruption measures without fear or favour
􀂄 Strengthen monitoring and enforcement by agencies such as the ACA, Customs, Inland Revenue and local authorities
􀂄 Establish an effective Special Complaints Commission to act on complaints of misconduct in enforcement agencies
􀂄 Continue to foster a culture of integrity and high ethical standards through the National Integrity Plan

RELIGION, UNITY

􀂄 Build a better understanding of Islam among Muslims and non-Muslims through Islam Hadhari
􀂄 Enhance appreciation for diverse cultures among Malaysia’s multiethnic people
􀂄 Expand the teaching of J-QAF to more schools
􀂄 Ensure provision of reserve land for places of worship in newly developed areas in accordance with developed guidelines
􀂄 Facilitate construction, consolidation and relocation of all places of worship via state government mechanism, co-ordinated at federal level, that will protect the interests of all communities
􀂄 Increase dialogue on inter-faith issues through the Department of National Unity and National Integration
􀂄 Improve unity programmes, especially in schools and institutions of higher learning

FOREIGN POLICY

􀂄 Continue to play an active, principled and impartial role in international affairs
􀂄 Expand trade and investment linkages
􀂄 Advance the economic agenda of the OIC through capacity-building programmes in less developed OIC countries
􀂄 Promote strategic partnerships between the West and the Muslim world to advance the economic agenda of the Makkah Declaration 2005
􀂄 Continue to build bridges between the Muslim world and the West through continuous dialogue
􀂄 Contribute towards a development agenda for the world’s poorest countries

Tua Pek Kong predicts sluggish economy from Feb to June

PENANG: The country’s economy will be slightly slower than the previous year, according to the predictions of Tua Pek Kong or God of Prosperity.

The deity had predicted during the annual Chneah Hoay (flame-watching) ceremony here at the Hai Choo Soo (Sea Pearl) Temple in Tanjung Tokong that the country’s economy would be slow during the first four months of the lunar year (Feb 7 to June 3).

However, it is expected to pick up during the second third (June 4 to Sept 28).

The ceremony on the eve of Chap Goh Meh last night was the 118th Chneah Hoay at the temple.

The turnout was, unexpectedly, lower than in previous years but there were still hundreds, mostly businessmen, thronging the seafront temple to witness the ceremony.

It is believed that the deity could foretell the country's economy for the Chinese lunar year, through the flames from some 60 burning joss sticks.

The prediction is based on the height and intensity of the flames, and the speed with which the embers in the deity's urn flare up.

The embers were fanned in three stages – once each for every four months of the lunar year.

The ceremony, which lasted about 15 minutes, began at 11.55pm.

Lights, candles and oil lamps were put off to enable the Poh Hock Seah Temple committee members to scrutinise the flames for prediction.

Poh Hock Seah Temple president Datuk Lim Chooi Beng said embers from the burning joss sticks ignited after about nine minutes of the first fanning, signifying that the economy was slow in taking off.

“The second fanning took about two minutes while the last was only a minute, showing that the economy will be improving from mid-year onwards,” he said.

Advising the public to not panic, he said Chneah Hoay is only a religious ritual and the results merely a prediction.

Ref: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/2/21/nation/20400097&sec=nation

Zakaria dropped from BN line-up

The former Port Klang assemblyman Datuk Zakaria Md Deros has been dropped from the Umno Selangor line-up for the general election.

However, Mentri Besar Datuk Dr Mohd Khir Toyo named Zakaria’s daughter-in-law Roselinda Abdul Jamil as the new candidate to replace him.
Roselinda, who is the Klang Puteri Umno chief and a Klang Municipal Council (MPK) councillor, is married to Zakaria’s son Zaidi.

Ref :http://www.thestar.com.my/elections2008/story.asp?file=/2008/2/21/election2008/20080221190017&sec=election2008

Veteran HK actress Lydia Sum dies

Veteran Hong Kong actress Lydia Sum, known for her iconic black-rimmed glasses and starring role in a range of film and TV comedies, has died at the age of 60.

The actress - affectionately known as Fei-fei, or "Fatty" - died at on Tuesday morning at Hong Kong's Queen Mary hospital.

The cause of death was not immediately clear, but Hong Kong broadcaster RTHK said Sum died after a protracted fight with liver cancer.

Sum was reportedly admitted to hospital two weeks ago after her condition worsened.
Born in Shanghai in 1947, Sum made her movie debut at age 13.

She appeared in more than 100 movies in Hong Kong and hosted more than 5,000 episodes of variety shows.

She also stared in the Singaporean English-language sit-com "Living with Lydia," which was broadcast in many Asian countries.

Donald Tsang, Hong Kong's chief executive, said "Hong Kong grew up with her laughter".

"She brought us a lot of joy," he said.

Sum is survived by ex-husband, actor Adam Cheng, and their daughter Joyce

Ref: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/577398FD-8CF8-4C8A-8E53-0A9B103524AD.htm

Malaysia's 12th general election

Malaysians will go to the polls on March 8.
The Election Commission announced that nomination day for the 222 parliamentary and 505 state seats would be Feb 24.
A total of 10,922,139 registered voters on the 2007 master electoral roll gazetted on Feb 5 would be eligible to vote. Of this, 221,085 are postal voters.

Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said the number of days for campaigning would be 13 days, inclusive of nomination day. The dissolution of Parliament took place 15 months before the expiry of its five-year term to pave the way for the 12th general election.

Abdul Rashid said 30 political parties registered with the commission would be contesting.
Stating that March 8 would be the start of a one-week school holiday, Abdul Rashid advised all registered voters to exercise their fundamental rights to cast their votes between 8am and 5pm.

He said the EC would be spending about RM200mil on the elections. There will 149,000 official appointees, mostly schoolteachers, and 50,000 casual workers.
Abdul Rashid said the commission had no power to endorse observers but that it was supportive of efforts by election watchdog group Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections (Mafrel) to continue monitoring the conduct of the general election

Ref: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/2/15/nation/20334927&sec=nation&focus=1