The World Without Us

For those of you who are wondering what to do during your free time, why not try reading a book? I would like to recommend to you an interesting book that I am currently reading.....it's titled "The World Without Us." It's a book that was written by Alan Weisman. Who exactly is this Alan Weisman anyway?

"Alan Weisman is an award-winning journalist whose reports have appeared in Harper's, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, Discover and on NPR, among others. A former contributing editor to the Los Angeles Times Magazines, he is a senior radio producer for Homelands Productions and teaches international journalism at the University o Arizona. His essay 'Earth Without People', on which The World Without Us expands, was selected for Best American Science Writing 2006" (Excerpt from The World Without Us)

This book has received ravenous reviews, some of which are as the following:

"Weisman's enthralling tour of the world of tomorrow explores what little will remain of ancient times while anticipating, often poetically, what a planet without us would be like." -Publishers Weekly

"One of the most ambitious thought experiments ever." -The Cincinnati Enquirer

This is the book that will be able to answer the ultimate question: What happens to the earth when human beings disappear?

Sordid and Sensational Politics

ABC's Foreign Correspondent report features familiar characters and interviews with some of them: Najib, Abdullah, Rosmah, Anwar, Raja Petra, Marina, Saiful, Teresa Kok, Bala and Altantuya. Parts two and three below.

Watch videos depicting the way our glorious government deals with dissentors, how humane they are.....

My BTN Pictures

Biro Tata Negara (BTN)

Well, in about four days' time, me and my other colleagues will be undergoing a BTN course at Kundasang, Sabah. I have come across this "Letter of Recommendation" from our honourable Lim Kit Siang of the DAP regarding this programme that should become fruit for our thoughts in these precarious post March 8 era......

Call on Abdullah to disband BTN - Trojan Horse to subvert Bangsa Malaysia

The Biro Tatanegara (BTN) should be disbanded as it is a Trojan Horse in the Prime Minister’s Department which undermines and subverts the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s National Day message of national unity and solidarity and Vision 2020 objective of Bangsa Malaysia.

In his 51st National Day message last Saturday, Abdullah said united citizens were a bulwark against any threat, either from within or outside the country.

He said solidarity was the cornerstone of the country’s political stability, social harmony and economic competitiveness.

However, in the bosom of the Prime Minister’s Department, the BTN had been assaulting the national “bulwark” and chipping away the Malaysian “cornerstone” in the past quarter of a century, with its unrelenting and unashamed purveying of racist poison among government servants, JPA scholars, university students and youths – using public funds running into RM76.3 million last year and RM 72 million next year to destroy the public policy of creating a Bangsa Malaysia out of the diverse peoples of Malaysia.

All Cabinet Ministers, whether Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC, SUPP and the Sabah and Sarawak component parties of Barisan Nasional who had served for the past quarter of a century should explain why they had closed their eyes and shut their ears to complaints that BTN had been conducting divisive and racist indoctrination courses for JPA scholars, government servants, university students and youths right under their noses?

Even more more important, what is the stand of the present batch of Barisan Nasional Ministers and leaders from Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC, SUPP and the BN component parties from Sarawak and Sabah?

Yesterday, I had blogged about a letter from an outraged parent at the trauma his daughter underwent in one such BTN indoctrination course for JPA scholars and the blog had evoked a firestorm of complaints and protests about the rank racism of the BTN.

One poster referred to a BTN indoctrination course for university students at UiTM in Shah Alam on 6th July 2008, where one BTN speaker, under the pretext of giving a talk on “Pendidikan”, launched into a racist harangue, criticising the Bar Council forum on social contract, accusing one of the forum speakers Farish A. Noor as a traitor of the Malay race and making disparaging remarks against Karpal Singh.

Among the “atrocious” things this speaker said were:

• “Kalau ular dengan India depan mata, ketuk India dulu.”

• That the Malays aren’t racist but ”others are racist towards us”.

• Bangsa Malaysia does not exist, neither does Malaysian Chinese and Indians, only in the strict sense Malay, Chinese and Indians.

• Bahasa Malaysia does not exist, it is Bahasa Melayu.

• Nothing wrong with waving the Keris.

• Bumiputra hanya 55% di Malaysia, give birth to more people!

• The University and University Colleges Act was partly made to ensure a Malay Vice-Chancellor in Universities which should be the way.

• Blogs are “berdosa” or sinful.

• That the Pakatan Rakyat-ruled states are all going down the drain - “this is what you get if you vote for the opposition!”

• Criticism of Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat.

As the BTN is under the direct jurisdiction of the Prime Minister, Abdullah should explain why BTN is allowed to conduct such divisive and racist indoctrination courses, which are compulsory for JPA scholars and government officials but which are also held for selected university students and youths – like the BTN course in UiTM Shah Alam on 6th July 2008.

Practicum

Practicum was one exhilarating experience! It was full of ups and down. I enjoyed teaching my pupils as they were all outspoken. What I dreaded most were the observations by my supervisors. I was so nervous every time they came to observe me....anyway all this is over by now.

Pre Practicum Update

Hi there!! Sorry for not updating this site for quite some time....it has been more than three months since I've done so. Anyway, a lot has happened since then. Right now, I'm about to enter the next phase of my teaching training program....the practicum. Nothing much to say here but I just wanna post pictures of my time during the School Based Experience project as well as the Uniformed Group Camping which I have attended recently.

School Based Experience




Uniformed Group Camping

The 12th Malaysian General Elections

Sorry for not posting anything on for February....I was too darn busy to do that....anyway, most of us are going to be heading towards our respective polling stations this Saturday (8 March 2008) to exercise our rights as voters in this 'esteemed' country of ours to elect in a 'fresh' government. So it is apt for me to mention a thing or two about the political situation within this beloved country of ours. Well, I've come across this article from Aliran Monthly's online website. Enjoy:

"A just government will treat all its citizens justly. It will not discriminate neither will it punish them for voting in an opposition politician. After all, in the electoral process such a choice is made available to the voters. This is what democracy is all about.

But, unfortunately, the BN is no respecter of the democratic process. It withholds development and facilities and punishes the voters for electing an opposition member as their representative.

We have witnessed this shameful conduct for many decades in this country. When Pas captured Trengganu in 1999, the BN stopped giving the state government the petroleum royalty that was due to the state and which had been given to the previous BN state government without fail. This had been the case for as long as the BN was running the state government in Trengganu.

Again, when the voters of Ipoh Timur elected Lim Kit Siang as their MP in 2004, the flood mitigation project came to a standstill.

According to the defeated MCA candidate who was the previous MP, there were plans for a flood mitigation project in Ipoh Garden South and Kampung Simee. He had requested for a RM10 million allocation for the project, but as he was not re-elected, the allocation fell through.

Should a BN government that prides itself as being imbued with Islamic values of justice and fairness behave in such an un-Islamic way and punish innocent citizens unjustly?

These are just two shameful examples of the BN acting unfairly and undemocratically. We must not allow this bullying conduct of the BN to continue unpunished. They have been punishing the voters in the past. It is time for the voters to punish the BN for acting in such a high-handed fashion.

The BN must be made to realise that it is an obligation of any government worth its salt to provide facilities and amenities for the welfare of its citizens. It does not come with a price. It is our right to expect these facilities. After all, the money for development does not come from the private funds of the political parties. It is the wealth of the nation that is used for development purposes and citizens have a share in that wealth.

We cannot condone this practice. We cannot any longer tolerate the double standards practised by this undemocratic government.

Should such a government deserve your support?"

Well, you decide for yourself...as for me, I have already decided for myself on whom to vote for....