Do you know... atoms can be visualised?

Categories: Do You Know?

Do you know that atoms, the building blocks of all things, can be visualised? This was first achieved in 1981 in the IBM's Zurich Research Laboratory, by Gerd Binning and Heinrich Rohrer. They were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1986 for their work. The machine they used is called the scanning tunnelling microscope. The scanning tunnelling microscope does not "see" the atoms, but "feels" them. Through the use of appropriate computer programs an "optical" image of the surface from the scan data can then be obtained. This provides a three-dimensional profile of the surface which is very useful for characterizing surface roughness, observing surface defects, and determining the size and conformation of molecules and aggregates on the surface.

In practice, it allows engineers to obtain an insight into the miniaturisation of electronic components, biologists to investigate the basic components of life under almost natural conditions, and it also allows chemists to gain a better understanding of batteries, by directly observing chemical surface reactions in an electrolytic solution at a molecular level. This was but a first step towards the development of the nanotechnology.


Links:
STM Gallery
Understanding the scanning tunneling microscopy
Atomic Fly-by

The Scenic Bridge no more

Categories: Malaysia

Malaysia yesterday unilaterally declared that the building of the Scenic Bridge will be stopped with immediate effect. The concurrent bilateral talks with Singapore for the construction of a straight bridge to replace the Causeway will also be stopped. I am sure this is a very difficult decision for our Prime Minister Abdullah because it involves national pride. He is unfortunately caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.

On the one hand, he had inherited this 'problem' from former PM Dr Mahathir who had defiantly claimed that Malaysia has a right to demolish its side of the Causeway probably in a fit of anger. So the current PM has not much choice except to continue with the rhetorics. On the other hand, selling sand and especially allowing the SAF to use Malaysian airspace freely is objectionable to the rakyat (people). Some felt that letting fighter jets of another country to use our airspace freely is amounting to trampling our sovereignty. Therefore, how to get out of this catch 22 situations? I think he has done the right thing and that is be answerable to the rakyat and halt the bridge constructions all together.

We must not caught in such situations again. This episode hopefully has taught the leaders that we must react with out minds and not our hearts. Never mind how frustrated and angry you are. Once uttered words cannot be taken back without creating red face. I have been a great admirer of Dr Mahathir but I felt that towards the end of his term, he had been saying things not representative of a man of his stature. It started from the time of the Asian financial crises when Singapore wanted reciprocation in exchange for financial help. No doubt in his heart he is trying to prove that Malaysians do not need Singapore to progress. A case of good intentions turned bad.

Because Singapore is a very structured society, everything is based on what has been written. In order to deal with Singapore, Malaysians must be prepared and well-versed with international laws and bilateral agreements. This has sadly not been the case in this dispute for in the separation agreement it was stated that removal of any of the structures on the Causeway would need Singapore's agreement. Had the original agreement been looked into and carefully studied, this embarassment could have been easily avoided.

Proper planning is another of the problem that comes glaring in this dispute. Why spend RM700 million on the CIQ even when negotiations had not been finalised? Was Malaysia very determined to build the bridge to the extend that some sovereignty will be compromised? Not only that for the government has to compensate RM100 million to Gerbang Perdana for terminating the contract. This shows the inefficiency and the poor planning on the part of the government.

Now that a stop-work order had been given, I hope the very same people who had voiced their disapproval to the sale of sand and use of Malaysian airspace by the SAF will now rally behind our Prime Minister. He had made a very difficult decision and in the process may have created some displeasure within the ranks of UMNO in particular. When the 'euphoria' had settled, only then can the true extend of the repercussions can be gauged.

I sympathised with PM Abdullah Badawi. He had inherited a problem that was boiled out of frustrations. He had heard discontent of the masses regarding the sale of sand and the use of Malaysian airspace. At the same time he had to salvage national pride. Further, his hands are tied due to a separation agreement signed some fourty years ago. Given the limited options that he had, he had come to this decision. In the end the victory can only be that of the rakyat.

Related blog: The Scenic Bridge
Chronology of events

Turf war that do not benefit the consumers

Categories: Singapore

With the introduction of James by GE Money sold through SingPost, there is currently a turf war between the banks and finance company on the loan sector. James is promoted as a non-collateral loan up to 4 times the personal income of at least S$2500 per month whereas all banks can only offer up to 2 times the personal income. Banks obviously cry foul because of the double-standards. What is more worrying to me is not which sector won in the end but to the uninitiated and potential borrower.

On the surface, such loans seem enticing. How often can one get an unsecured loan? And up to 4x the monthly income? This loosely translated is like having an exchange rate that gives you four times your monthly income and spending power! After removing the initial euphoria and looking critically, the borrower should realised the followings:

This is a LOAN and not like that of foreign exchange! A loan means it needs to be paid back. If you are already having limitations in your spending, after taking the loan, is there any realistic way of paying back the loan? The repayment will add up to the extra monthly expenditure which was not there before. Therefore you are actually spending money that you don't have and more! Imagine having borrowed up to 4 times you monthly income which will translate to having to earn up to 4 times just to pay back the loan. In foreign exchange, the foreign currency you spend is whatever money you have in hand - there is no need to pay back.

If you take into account the interest accrued which was reported at 14.9% per annum, that will add $149 to every $1000 dollars borrowed per year. This does not seem much till one realised that each month that will make an extra $100 of expenditure which should be paid. Although the report does not specify whether failure of the monthly repayment will entailed any interest, going by the current practice, this will most likely to be the case and the interest would normally be 2% per month or 24% per annum! With this type of interest, before long, you will realised that the debt will increase exponentially and loan repayment becomes more and more difficult if not impossible.

Therefore, to the consumer, don't rejoice at the chance to borrow more money. The money lenders and banks are not your friend. There are running a business which means they are out to make money. And the way to do it is to earn interests. The longer you take to pay back the loan the better because the more they will earn. To the consumer however, the longer you take to pay means the more debt you have to pay. So whoever win this battle, the consumers will stand to lose.

So before you run to SingPost take the loan, just remember this: Banks and money-lending company are just legalised loan sharks! If you remember this, maybe you will be spared the agony of paying your debts later on.

Malaysia plans to set up an ombudsman

Categories: Malaysia

The Malaysian government plans to set an ombudsman to look into complaints against the government officials and agencies. The plan is now in the Attorney-General’s Chambers to look into the legal aspect before being sent to the Parliament for rectification. This is indeed welcome if the Government is trying to regain some credibility. How effective it eventually will be will need to be seen.

I am most sceptical because of the recent rejection of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) by the Inspector-General of Police. This was despite the acceptance of the Internal Security Minister who is also the Prime Minister. Till today, this clear case of subordination had not been completely dealth with. The IGP has still not been replaced and the IPCMC not created. If a commision to foresee a branch of the government machinery, in this case the Police, cannot be implemented, is there any chance that a commision to overlook the full spectrum of the government machinery materialised?

Moreover, Malaysia already has a lot of agencies and rulings to check abuses and corruptions in the government. If the ombudsman is going to be another toothless agency with no clearly defined power, then we are only back to square one. What we do need is to further strengthen any existing rules and laws and tighten its implementations. Laws are useless if they are not properly implemented. Somehow, along the way, such agencies tends to loss their directions.

In the event that the ombudsman does eventually materialised, it must be seen to be neutral. It should not be staff by government people but by members of the Bar, retired senior civil servants and NGO's. It's aim and function must be clearly defined and is given enough power to see it through various political and bureaucratic obstacles when conducting investigations. The government itself must be willing to accept any findings for any eventual disciplinary actions and prosecutions if need be.

Forming an ombudsman is the way to go for the Malaysian government to regain some confidence with the people. If its noble intentions are carried out to the fullest, then I am sure Malaysia will achieve it Wawasan 2020 vision. However if along the way, it looses its aim, then the ombudsman will just be one of the many toothless, fund-wasting agencies that forms one of the many problems the country faces.

Preserve Fort Tanjong Katong

Categories: Singapore

The Sunday Times [Sunday Times April 9, 2006] reported that for the second time, Fort Tanjong Katong will be buried again. Excavation was carried out in 2005 after the Fort was rediscovered in 2001. The excavation lasted for 10 months and was reburied in December 2005. This was done to protect the fort from the weather after it was discovered that there was no specific plan for the Fort.

The lack of proper plans seemed strange to have happened in Singapore. Singapore is famous for its long-sightness and planning. What has happened here? The most obvious would be to name the Fort a national monument. According to a spokesman for the Preservation of Monuments Board, this is not so simple because historical value has to be weighed against the income that the site can earn if it were developed for other uses.

I hope dollars-and-cents will not get in the way of making the Fort a national monument. The fort was built in 1879, making it 127 years old. Singapore which is quite barren of something truely historic should treasure this near-intact Fort. Most of the tourist attractions in Singapore is created through through landscaping. With this truely historic and unrestored Fort, wouldn't it enhanced the tourism sector? Fort Canning and Fort Siloso are already tourist spots. However Fort Canning is only represented by a doorway. Fort Siloso was upgraded many times and at times looked rather artificial. With Fort Tanjong Katong, which was preserved in its entirety since it was build would present an awesome view as it present an architecture preserved in time. I am sure Fort Tanjong Katong will beat Melaka's A'Formosa hands down.

The location of Fort Tanjong Katong is near the East Coast Park which eventually will be connected to the Marina Bay area where the Integrated Resort will be sited. This make its location ideal because having spent time in the Integrated Resort, tourist can just walk to the new Botanical Garden, pass the Marina bridge with its DNA helix structure and then the Fort! Wouldn't it be convenient?

It is very difficult to place a price tag to a historical structure. What yardstick should be used to estimate the price? However if a value has to be placed on the Fort, why not use this method of evaluation? Determine the value of the Fort, then project to see if the Fort can be rebuild to its preserved historical stature. If it cannot be carried out, then the value determined is not the actual value of the Fort! Once the Fort is destroyed, no amount of money will be able to bring back the structure with its historical value and significance.

I hope common sense will prevail over dollar-and-cents. Historical relics are priceless because once it is destroyed, nothing can restore it. And it is feasible to have a historical relic in the mist of modern architecture like that seen in Anfiteatro Romano in Catania, Sicily. Therefore I hope the Preservation of Monuments Board can make a wise decision and protect this piece of Singapore history.

Links (updated on 15 April)
noelbynature (nice accompanying photos)

A name change to change mindset?

Categories: Malaysia

Malaysia yesterday renamed the 10-year old Multimedia Super Corridor or MSC to MSC Malaysia. This rebranding is done as an effort to revitalise and empower it as a national initiative to be taken to the global stage. Despite retaining the original focus and objectives of the MSC in terms of the basics and principles, the methods, approaches and strategies employed to achieve the original objectives would be renewed and improved in meeting current needs and challenges.

In his speech, the Prime Minister also mentioned: "We have never been short of ideas but short of implementation, probably because of problems and obstacles. Failure is not an option, we must succeed. We have lost the staying power; the 9MP must be implemented quickly and effectively".

The PM has certainly hit the nail on the head. This is one of the many problems faced by the country. The clearest example will be that of the shopping centres and megamalls.

Malaysia had seen the building of many shopping malls and mega-projects especially in Kuala Lumpur. However, after a few years, many of these malls are rather neglected. Many of them could do with some paintings and renovations. Even the ones which started off as the posh and high-classed mega-shopping malls, tend to loose their shine and appeals as time goes by, with the best known brands leaving the malls, leaving the not-so-posh and lesser names behind. The posh and the well-known will transplant themselves to even newer shopping centres only to have the whole process duplicated later. The end results are neglected megamalls creating eyesores around the city.

Because the implementation is based on willingness and discipline, one wonders whether by just changing the name from Multimedia Super Corridor to MSC Malaysia will ever make any difference. A name is just a name. If the mindset remains the same, however much change in names or mottos will come to naught. What is important is that the people behind the MSC Malaysia should change their mindset to one that is pro-active rather than reactive.

What this means is that, there needs to be a leader who is only driven by one motive - and that is to succeed. Nothing less. There must also be projected targets with appropriate time frames so that the is a guidelines on what is to be achieved and when. The leader must also be able to motivate and resist any political distractions that may interfere with this need to succeed. Once the blueprint is laid down, that should serve as the basis for negotiations with companies. Only minor changes should be introduced so as to enable international companies with work with minimal disruptions to their plans.

With end-results driven motivations, only then can the problem with implementation be solved. Without such timetable, what is there to tell us that some implementation is behind time? Only through such guidelines and projections can the problem with implementation be solved.

Thai shows peaceful demonstrations can get results

Categories: Wormie Says

Mr Thaksin, the Prime Minister of Thailand, had finally stepped down. What had prompted him to do so is still unclear. What will happen next is also unclear as there are hints that the second largest political party, The Democrat Party, had said that they will boycott the upcoming by-election to fill the 30-odd parlimentary seats, without which the Parliment cannot convene because the constitution dictates that all seats must be filled before a new Parliment can convene.

Whatever the outcome of this saga the Thai people had shown the world in general and Asia in particular that streets demonstrations need not always ends with violence. For the few months after the sales of Thaksin-owned Shin Corp was sold off to Temasek of Singapore, there had been constant streets demonstrations and protests regarding the sales. Charges against Thaksin ranges from betrayal of the Thai people (because Shin Corp controls major telecommunications, satellite and the national airline of Thailand) to corruption (because the two billion dollar deal is tax-exampt) and nepotism. Despite the large turn out, the was hardly any violence. Although the full police force were reported to be on alert, thankfully they do not have to do battle running the streets to control the crowd. This is in marked contrast to the dispute in France where street battles between the police and demonstrators are common. This non-violence demonstrations is a good example for the world to see that peaceful street protests is as, if not more, effective than violent demonstrations.

Secondly, Thai people had shown how common sense can help in time of political crises. At the peak of the crisis, Mr Thaksin called for a snap election hoping to put his position to a 'referendum' of sorts to the Thai people. When the opposition boycotted the snap election, he vowed that he will not be the Prime Minister if he gets less that half of the votes. However come election day, when the results were announced, he won 58% of popular votes. However the city of Bangkok was split down the middle with him 'losing' in the restive south. Probably feeling the sting, he chose to step down (whether the revered Thai King has a hand in the decision is subject to speculations) and appoint an acting interim Prime Minister. By doing so, Mr Thaksin has effectively silenced the opposition who wants to remove him from power and at the same time paved the way for negotiations on Parlimentary changes. His action is in sharp contrast with most countries where elected leaders who refuses to step down even when it is far too clear that the electorates do not support them anymore. Although critics may say this is just a tactical move, at least he took a step back to defuse tensions and reduce the confrontation atmosphere so that condusive dialogues can be held.

Whatever the outcome of this crisis, the Thais had shown the world that peaceful demonstrations can also achieve results. Hopefully, the media will highlight this fact so that the world can learn from the Thais. This episode in the Thai history will only make Thai democracy stronger and put more mature democracies to shame!

MV Agusta sale

Categories: Malaysia

Finally the reasons involving the sale of MV Agusta has surfaced. In 2004, Proton, under its former CEO, Tan Sri Tengku Mahaleel Tengku Ariff, it acquired 57.57 percent stake in Agusta for 70 million Euro (RM315 million), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Proton Capital Sdn Bhd. During its stake with the company, it further pumped in more money. This further pushed up the loss to RM510.24 million as stated in Proton's annual report for 2005. In December 2005, the entire stake was sold to GEVI SpA, a special purpose vehicle for a nominal sum of one Euro.

This has prompted former PM Tun Dr Mahathir, Proton's advisor to question the sale for just one Euro. Together with Mahaleel, they posed 8 questions to the current management of Proton. This was in January 2006.

However, the present management only started to reveal the decision on the sale in March 2006. In it, it claimed that the board of Proton was not aware of all the facts when it invested in Agusta. All these were only found out in August 2005 when a representative in Agusta asked for more money. The current chairman Datuk Azlan Hashim said of the terms of purchase:

- RM176 million cash advances were needed to keep Agusta afloat
- Proton could not exercise control despite the 57% stake in Agusta and could not change the management
- minority shareholders in Agusta could veto key decisions
- Proton could not increase its stake even if fresh capital was pumped into Agusta

Too many questions surfaced when this report was published by the New Straits Times on March 29.

Firstly what was the rationale for buying into a company on the brink of bankruptcy? Does Proton intended to branch into the motorcycle business? Or is it confident that its management can turn Agusta around and make a profit in the long term? Or, as we know now, this was based on an engineering knowledge that Proton can learn to further improve on its engineering technology, as Dr Mahathir had countered.

Who brought up the idea in the first place. Was the idea mooted as a reaction to the falling shares prices of Proton, hoping to create some positive news to bolster the share values? If this is so, can a falling profit support a near-bankrupt company and for how long?

Who were the people involved in negotiating the terms of purchase? Do they know that they will be getting "the short end of the stick" with the purchase? If they know, why did they proceed with the purchase? If not, why was it overlooked? It is indeed strange that only after half a year of the purchase, the Proton management found out about the terms of the purchase. Shouldn't the people involve in the purchase have gone through the terms properly and thoroughly. If a thorough study had been done and Proton still goes ahead with the purchase, what is the rationale then? I am not a business person, but I understand that one of the reason to have a majority stake is so that one can control and steer a company. What is the point of holding majority stake when it does not come with executive power? Worse, the stake remains despite of pouring in of more capitals! Surely somebody must be answerable for this!

Was the Proton management informed about or had tried to find out the terms of purchase? According to Proton chairman Datuk Azlan Hashim, "the board of Proton Holdings Bhd was not aware of all the facts when it invested in Agusta." Is this an excuse or is this an honest revelations? Shouldn't the people in charge of the purchase find out all the facts, actively or otherwise, so that the Board can be properly briefed? Was the Board ever being briefed at all before giving the go ahead? Questions and more questions!!

How was the raw deal found out and who found out the truth? Datuk Azlan said: "We were first alerted when our Agusta representative asked for money. Clearly, we were caught by surprise." Yes! Malaysians are even more surprise that such a major company, the pride of Malaysia's automotive industry, with exports to several countries in the world were caught unaware when they signed off a RM176 million deal! We are talking about RM176 million and not just one or two million ringgit which to such large company is small change. The price tag alone will open the eyes wider on what was on offer!

What had Proton management done after the true picture was found out? Was internal auditing carried out? Was any personnel reprimanded or even sacked? I believe some form of auditing must have been done. This is because a new management was announced in November 2005.It would be of public interest if the findings can be announced.

On the sale of Agusta, who decided that it should be put up for sale and the rationale? Had the reasons for the purchase changed so much that Agusta becomes redundant? If this is so why had it change so much over the short span of 1 year? Was this poor planning or something unforeseen? Has new circumstances prevented the holding on of the company? Proton had announced liability in Agusta which has further increase losses. And to stem out further losses, it had to be sold. If this is so, why was a decision made to buy it just over a year ago?

How was the sale publised? Was it put up for bidding? How did the sum of 1 Euro comes about? Was there negotiations to improve on the sale price? There are just too many questions!

Bernama News agency reported on April 1st, that Dr Mahathir had said the purchase of Agusta was a good investment. This was based on the engineering know-how that Proton could learn. He drew a parallel with Honda which started as a motorcycle company now produce some of the best cars in the world. But in the quest for new engineering know-how is it justifiable to agree to such poor purchase terms?

Now as we are getting a clearer picture, what next? Will we eventually get the whole true picture? Will PM Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi be true to his words when he call for more transparency? I think Malaysians are not interested in scapegoat because we know the real culprit will somehow escape the clutches of the law. Even when they are charged, the court case will drag on for years until the case is forgotten. Finally, as is usually the case, the government lacks accountabililty. There is always the yearning to do right but as always lacks the political will to carry out the necessary. So will we ever know the truth?

Do you know .... suborbital space flight

Categories: Do You Know?

By 2008 one can travel into space for a ticket price of just US$200 000. This will be made possible by Virgin Galactic, a company established by Richard Branson's Virgin Group to undertake the challenge of developing space tourism for everybody.

The spacecraft will be piggy-backed on a mothership, White Knight Two, which will take off most likely from a site in New Mexico. At about 10 miles (16000 km) above sea level, the craft will be released and accelerates to 4G speed - a speed that is faster than a bullet. Passengers will be able to see the cobalt blue sky turn to mauve and indigo and finally black... and then one will experience weightlessness!

Where does space begins? It is generally accepted as 62 miles (100 km) above sea level. As the altitude increases, the atmosphere gradually thins so there is no actual tangible boundary between Earth's upper atmosphere and Space.

As a comparison:

Altitude                Object
238794 miles (384000 km)Moon
22300 miles (36000 km)  Communication satellites
200-250 miles(320-400km)Space Station
115-400 miles(185-640km)Space shuttles
62 miles (100 km)       Space starts(see photo)
55000 feet (16700 m)    Concorde jet aircraft
36000 feet (11000 m)    Commercial airliners
29028 feet (8800 m)     Height of Mt Everest

Virgin Galactic spacecraft will bring passenger to a suborbital distance of 80 miles (128 000 km). Suborbital flight is defined as a mission that flies out of the atmosphere but does not reach speeds needed to sustain continuous orbiting of the earth. At such height, passengers can see the brilliant curvature of the earth as they would from orbit and experience weightlessness.

If you wanted an actual orbital flight, or if you have US$20 million to spare, why not join Dennis Tito, the first space tourist. At this price, you get to spend eight days in space and live aboard the International Space Station and travel approximately 120 orbits of the Earth (over 3 million miles). This trip is organised by the appropriately named Space Adventures.

Should donors have a say in how to use charity money?

Categories: Singapore

Following the NKF debacle, many donors are now very weary about the use of donation money. This is a healthy development in itself. It is only fair for donors to know precisely how their money are going to be spent. But can donors decide on how fund should be used? [Today newspaper March 17, 2006].

Given the numerous charitable organisations in Singapore, it is easy to understand that some of their principal aims may be overlapped. Good example will be the National Kidney Foundation and the Kidney Dialysis Foundation (KDF), both of which helps in providing dialysis subsidy to renal patients. This is further complicated by the fact that there is an umbrella body that forsee and helps in raising charity money for its member. This body takes the form of National Council of Social Service (NCSS).

Currently, donors generally give money to such organisations based on their broad aims. For example, NKF for kidney patients and NCSS under the Community Chest scheme. This has the advantage of simplicity for donors. Donors do not have to wonder how exactly the money will be used but who will use the money. The downside is that sometimes the money may not be channelled to the intended use of the donor. For example, donation to the NKF may end up being used for education purposes and not for dialysis per se as what the donor may have intended. And given the worse case scenario as in the NKF saga, the funds can be easily abused.

On the other hand, giving the donor a say on how to use their donation may create numerous conflicts. Organisations like Singapore Heart Foundation spend most of its donation money on education which it feels is important in preventing heart-related condition in the first place. This may not be what the donors felt and thus donations may be inadequate. Then there are varied opinions as to what each donor may want the charity body to use his donations. This may give rise to many smaller funds resulting in lack of real overall funding as the already precious little donation money is spread into many funds. This may result in a charity body with large overall donations but too little to fund an individual project.

A possible solution is probably to let the public know exactly what the organisation planned to do and how much each project is expected to cost. The collected donation is then dispersed proportionately into each project. If this is not feasible, then have the project prioritised so that the most important will get the funding first followed by the rest. This method serves to create a little more transparency compared to the 'old' tried-and-tested method. Now the donor gets a better picture of how the money is to be spent. Further it prevents the chaotic situation where each donor has a say in how the money is to be spent. The charity body can steer the donation money to what it felt is most important for the members they serve.

Talking about transparency, it would be good if a charitable organisation can publish a simplified financial report in the newspaper - on how much it has canvassed, how and where the money was spent and left overs if any - before they have a campaign for donations. This is especially so for the those organisations that canvas their funds via the television as such events generally rakes in millions of dollars. Donors are 'shareholder' in such charitable organisations and this is only fair that a report card of sorts is published. After all a public listed company is also required to report to their share holders.

Whatever the outcome of this discussions, it is most important that the needy does not suffer as a result. Whichever method is used, the utmost important is transparency so that a repeat of NKF fiasco can be avoided. In the end it is not only the needy that benefits if all goes well, the donors also benefit because they know that their hard earn money is put to good use.

Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission

Categories: Malaysia

The Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohd Bakri Omar rejected the adoption of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) in a speech marking the 199th Police Day celebrations. The setting up of the IPCMC is one of the recommendations made by the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysian Police. This follows a spate of bad publicities on the country's Police, one of which was the Balai Polis video clips. In his speech, he said he had recommended to the Government that the Police Force Commission, which was created under Article 140 of the Federal Constitution, should continue to oversee police officers and personnel discipline.

The speech by the IGP is indeed surprising. Not only because of the rejection itself, but by the fact that Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi had already given an "in-principle" agreement on the setting up of the IPCMC on 24th January 2006. It further questions whether the Police do have something to hide.

The IGP must first realised that he is a civil servant appointed by the government - a political establishment. And the head of this political establishment is the Prime Minister, who in this case is also the Internal Security Minister; his direct boss. Therefore the IGP must not forgets that he is answerable to the Government. Even if he disagrees, he will have to abide by the Government's decision until a decision is made through behind-the-scenes negotiations with the Government.

PM Abdullah Badawi, known for his gentlemanly style, had hinted subtly that the implementation of the IPCMC is good for the Police because "When the situation reaches a stage where the public no longer cares about what the police do or whatever the force wishes to cover up, then (it means) the public no longer cares about the force and that spells trouble". What words of wisdom. Put another way: when there is a lack of trust, the Police will lost its authority. Therefore adopting the IPCMC will improve whatever little trust the public have of the Police, which can only be good. On the other hand, rejecting the proposals, reinforced the feeling that the Police do have something to hide!

The IGP's stand is not surprising given that he has to protect his fellowman - rightly or wrongly. However what is more surprising is why some ruling MP voiced their objections. This is despite Parliament as a body was very supportive of the Royal Commission when it was first set up. Many spoke out (which included MPs) in support of Pak Lah's great vision to rid our country of bad police. Their sudden change of hearts had raised questions of whether their postal votes may have played a part.

Finally, when the IPCMC is indeed implemented, it must be seen to be independant and fair. If must be daring enough to ask tough and embarrassing questions and make painful recommendations if needed. Therefore it is important for the Commission to be made up of people of good standings in politics (from both the government and the opposition), Suhakam (The Human Rights Commission), community leaders and top Government officials. Only then will the people have faith in IPCMC. Otherwise if the Police are cleared by the Commission, doubts will remain and the public will adopt "I told you so" attitude.

Syabas Malaysia!

Categories: Malaysia

The Melbourne XVIII Commonwealth Games just concluded yesterday. Malaysia was placed eighth with a total of 29 medals of which 7 are gold medals. Once again Malaysia's strength lies with its badminton team having won a total of 4 golds (Men's single, Men's double, Women's double, Mixed team) and 3 silver. The other events that Malaysia did well was rhythmic gymnastics (4 silver 2 bronze), weightlifting (1 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze) and shooting (1 silver and 4 bronze).

Malaysia should be proud of its achievement because all the medals were won by true-blue Malaysians. We had relied on our own strength and our programmes to advance in the sporting arena. Whatever achievements we gained are gained through the hardwork of Malaysians, not pseudo-Malaysians that are 'imported'.

This is the way to go in sports as there are no shortcuts. By taking shortcuts, there may be a vacuum when these 'foreign' sports talents retire as the locals may not make the mark. To achieve similar results, more foreign sports talent need to be recruited and the cycle feeds itself. Only by training our own atheletes and sending them to international events, sometimes just for the experience, is the slow but sure way to improve our sporting prowess. Malaysians must not be ashame of any failure because each failure is a lesson towards success.

I was lucky enough to watch the women's badminton doubles between Malaysia's Chin Eei Hui and Wong Pei Tty and China's Jiang Yanmei and Li Yujia. Oops! I mean Singapore...

Once again, syabas Malaysia and Malaysia Boleh!

Related blogs:
* It's about sportsmanship
* Foreign sports talent

Just completed assigning categories!

Just completed 'categorising' all my blogs! Thanks to Ayub for the method. Now it is easier to navigate my blogs.

It's about sportsmanship

Categories: Singapore
There were questions raised on why Singapore send the netball and swimming teams to the Commonwealth when they had failed to show any good results. This is very sad because somehow in the quest for excellence, some Singaporeans have forgotten such thing call sportsmanship. Everything had boiled down to dollars and cents.

There are many reasons for sending a team to a major tournament. One of which is to gain experience. This is invaluable because this is the only way you can gauge your standard. Sure by all standards the netball team lost miserably. But if the team was not sent to the Games, how do one know about such disparity? It is only by such participation that such things can be gained. Painful lessons indeed but unfortunately a necessary steps.

The were also talk about wasting taxpayers money by sending the swimming team. To quote a writer to the Straits Times: "The swimmers were in the last three places of every race, which tells us that we still have a long way to go to compete at the world level. Though they did us proud in the last SEA Games, sending them to the Commonwealth Games seems to be a waste of taxpayers' money. Did we send the team just for the sake of doing so?" How does one improve if one chose to avoid competition? No doubt it always feels good to win the gold but do you just want to win a regional competition only? Wouldn't it be cheating yourself if you just chose to win 'small' regional competitions and avoid the major meets? In the long run it will be counter-productive because complacency may creep in and other swimmers from around the region will catch up and we will loose our advantage. The only way forward is to compete in major international meets to gauge our standards, experience world class competition and push ourselves forward. Already some swimmers have supassed their personal best in this Games.

One should not forget about sportsmanship. This was the main theme in all sporting events until the advent of professional sports and the current renumeration system for the victors. Sportsmanship means "conduct (as fairness, respect for one's opponent, and graciousness in winning or losing) becoming to one participating in a sport" according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. Sure the netball team and the swimming team did poorly but I am sure they had tried their best for the country and that counts. In this respect, I must congratulate the Sri Lankan diver for participating in the Games. This is because the level of difficulty alone will already ensure that he will be last in his event but he chose to participate anyway. Winning or losing is not everything in sports, it is about participating to the best of one's ability. Along the way in our quest for excellence we seem to have forgotten about this.

Foreign sports talent

Categories: Singapore
This blog was inspired by a caller to UFM 100.3 who said that he did not feel very proud when our table tennis team won the gold but felt very proud when Vanessa Yong won the bronze because she is a true blue Singaporean. Of the three panelist, one agreed, one disagreed and another who married a foreigner wonders about her child if he represented Singapore in future.

Foreign sports talent is not new or is it unique to Singapore. A look through the list of participant in the Commonwealth Games official website will reveal that other countries are also represented by 'foreign' sports talent. I am not sure about the response there but certainly in Singapore, this question had cropped up time and again.

Are they any less Singaporean than a Singaporean by birth? I don't think so. They certainly must have shown their commitment during training and had excelled in their sports before they are chosen. As it is, Singapore sports do not tolerate failures. If they have shown commitment to their training, how are they different from the true-blue local sports person?

If they are not less Singaporeans why is it that their achievement is less sweet compared to that achieved by a Singaporean by birth? This question probably can be answered from three different aspects - the level of sports, whether team events or how involved is an athelete with the Singapore system.

For a long time, it is known that sporting results in Singapore had unfortunately been poor. Granted Singapore has Olympic silver medallist Tan Howe Liang in weight-lifting but that was back in 1960! Other successes had been bronze medals in weight-lifting events in the seventies and eighties Commonwealth Games. Great achievements given that during that time sports was not given as much emphasis as now and therefore less support from the Government. Now things have changed. Since the Foreign Sports Talent scheme come into play in 1998, Singapore had been actively scouting out foreign talents to be based here and then grant them citizenship if they made the mark. Table tennis benefitted the most from the scheme. Where previously, Singapore only managed to win the occasional bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games, in 2002, Singapore suddenly made a giant leap with 13 medals, 4 of them gold. However further scrutiny revealed that 12 out of 13 medals were from table tennis with only one from badminton. And all the players who won medals were originally from China! I think this is what Singaporeans are questioning. How can one be very proud when these athletes were pre-selected and not because they had followed the Singapore training schemes and systems? They are essentially made-in-China but repackage as a product of Singapore!

The Singapore football team also have at least 2 'foreign' talent donning the Singapore jersey. But there was no questions asked regarding their 'status'. This is partly because football is a team game and the contribution from 2 talented players may not make too much difference in the outcome. Therefore, the team is still essentially of Singapore flavours. This is unlike the female table tennis team. In 2002 Commonwealth Games, there were no Singapore-born peddlers. In the current games, at least there were 2 born-Singaporeans. However because the team event is dependant on individual results, there is still a lack of local flavours although the Singapore-born contribution is equally important.

Finally, how these athletes come to represent Singapore is significant. If they were born here as permanent resident and eventually they represent Singapore, then I think there is no issue. This is because for all intent and purposes, they are no different from a child born as Singaporean. They grow up in the same environment, study in the same education system and generally subscribed to the same ideology and aspiration. If they migrated here at young age and study the national school here, then they should still be considered 'true-blue' Singaporean. However if they are bigger but migrated not because of their sports skills then I think there should not be any 'discomfort' if they win for Singapore. However if from young they are enticed to Singapore because of their prowess and potential then unfortunately these are the ones that will not raise the same pride as that acheived by a true-blue Singaporean. That is why Stefanie Sun, the superstar singer, is very much accepted as a true-blue Singaporean although she is a second-generation permanent resident earlier on.

Pride and nationalism is a matter of the heart. Because it is a matter of the heart, judgement and common sense sometimes takes a back seat. Maybe the sporting community should look into the issue of imported talent in international events so that we won't be seeing 'China' versus China in table tennis or 'Indonesia' versus Indonesia in badminton, but that will be another blog.

In similar veins: why nobody expresses any discomfort when a non-Singapore-born talent was made a Minister? ..... matters of the heart, I guess.

Do you know... TGN1412

Categories: Do You Know?
TGN1412 is manufactured by TeGenero, a biopharmaceutical company based in Germany. It is a monoclonal antibody drug, and was designed to target a specific human protein involved in several diseases. Animal studies and clinical data has suggested that the drug could benefit patients with incurable chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, and others with auto-immune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. These conditions are caused by the body's immune system attacking itself.

TGN1412 was designed to target the CD28 protein on a subset of immune system cells called T cells. The antibodies in the drug get into the bloodstream, seek out the immune cells, and then latch on to them. Most antibody treatments work by shutting down biological reactions, but TGN1412 is designed to do the opposite - activate the T cells. It was thought the drug would over-stimulate the rogue T cells, making them burn out and die.

The only known 'side-effect' is the temporary increase in size of the lymph nodes. Other than this, it has been shown to be safe when tested on rabbits and monkeys. There were no drug related side effects and there were no drug related deaths despite administering doses up to five hundred times the dose to be used in the phase I clinical trial (first human test).

[Ref1][Ref2][Ref3][FAQ]

Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease

Categories: Singapore
Today marks the first day of school in Singapore after a one-week break. This will also be the first day in school after the outbreak of Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease (HFMD) with started about 3 weeks ago around the region. With the recent school break, families in Singapore generally travel around the region and with the disease 1-week incubation period, [Ref] the opening of school may herald a spread of the disease. The Ministry of Health has already drawn up guidelines for schools and doctors in its contingency plan to combat a possible outbreak.

On March 10, the Health Ministry had set up a task force involving Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports which oversees nurseries and childcare centre and Ministry of Education and National Environmental Agency. With this multi-ministerial task force, it is hoped that the lag time for any useful policy implementation across ministry is shortened.

It was reported in the Straits Times today that any single child is down with HFMD, the parents of all classmates will be informed. And if at least 18 children are infected over a 3 week period, the school will be shut. Informing parents will highten vigilance and possible early quarantine if comfirmed and shutting down schools will serve to break the infectious cycle.

As for the primary healthcare, circulars had been distributed informing them of the need for extra vigilance during this period. They are to advice parents to keep their child indoors for seven days from onset of disease. During this time, the child is also to avoid contacts with their siblings and other children as much as possible. And they are only to attend school after being certified free of the disease by a doctor. Of course, good personal hygiene is of utmost importance during this time. And if a child down with HFMD showed signs of lung infection, heart infection or brain infection, they are to be referred to the tertiary institution of Kandang Kerbau Hospital or National University Hospital.

The Health Ministry also has a good FAQ on HFMD on its website for the public. Topics include what is HFMD, signs and symptoms, treatment and what parents can do if a child is infected with the disease. This very informative site is useful for the general public.

However, none is more important than personal hygiene. Because HFMD is spread by direct contact, adoption of personal hygiene is of utmost importance. Washing hands and covering mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing are simple yet effective means of breaking the contagion. All the measures taken by the Ministry may come to naught if simple personal hygiene is not practiced.

Given the experience with SARS back in 2003, Singaporean had shown that they are the robust lot. With the lessons learned, and the precautions taken, hopefully there will be little likelihood of a repeat of the 2000/2001 HFMD epidemic where deaths had occured.

And again Mr Khaw Boon Wan, the Health Minister, should be commended for drawing up plans so early to combat the possible epidemic of HFMD.

Public Transportation Trust Fund in Malaysia

Categories: Malaysia
The Malaysian Cabinet decision to set up a Public Transportation Trust Fund with the savings the Government derived from its reduction of subsidy for fuel prices is indeed laudable. The savings amount to RM4.4bil.

This is the way to go if the Government is seriously urging its people to switch from private transport to public transport. Till now apart from words, no concrete steps had been taken so far. In order to solve the transport problems and urging people to reduce the use of private transport, there must be a viable alternative. If there are no public transport, how are those people who stop using the private transport commute?

The country cannot afford to keep building new roads because this does not solve traffic problems. It merely increases the ownership of cars because when there is perceived lack of traffic jams, this implies low car populations. This new roads and highways just serve to delay the inevitable.

With the various modes of transport available in the KL, it is important to optimise and integrate their use. There should be seamless transfer between the LRT, monorail, KTM and buses. By integrating, this increases the convenience of public transport and therefore address one of the advantage of private transport.

Bus service should also increase their coverage. They should ply into areas where the LRT, monorail or KTM cannot cover. The should serve as the link between LRT or monorail stations and residential, workplace or shopping areas. Not only should their coverage be big, their frequency should also be increased. A wide coverage means reduce private transport dependance on the area served. Higher frequency means more convenience. Reliability is also important.

I hope the Government do not only look into the transport problems of KL but all the cities of Malaysia. It is better to alleviate or prevent the breakdown of the public transport before it collapses. The public transport in Penang deteriorated to such an extent that it was mostly non-existence. It was recently just being revamped. How effective the revamp will work remains to be seen.

Another worry is the tendency for the Government to just start some project without following through it. Traffic woes is an on-going problem and needs an on-going study and review of transport policy. Officials cannot just sit tight after implementing some scheme because although it may work earlier on, it may slowly resurface with time due to changing demographics and land usage.

It is a good start for the Government to make good its promise to use the subsidy saved on petrol to improve the public transport. It remains to be seen whether they can sustain their effort in improving the public transport.

Jericho prison raid by the Israeli - a collusion?

Categories: Wormie Says

On March 14, 2006 the Israeli Defence Force stormed a jail in Palestinian-run town of Jericho and ‘captured’ Ahmed Saadat, the political leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He was accused by planning the revenge killing of hardline Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi. His predecessor Abu Ali Mustafa was assassinated by Israel a year after the outbreak of the intifada. The Palestinian judiciary had cleared him of involvement, but he was kept in custody. He was elected to parliament earlier this year, and both Mr Abbas and the militant election victors, Hamas, had spoken of releasing him soon. The prison was under the charge of the Palestinian Authority but supervised by the US and British troops.

Britain and the US had repeatedly warned Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that it would withdraw its monitors from the Jericho prison citing threats to its security forces monitors. Mr Abbas said the monitors had complained about small violations of the detention agreement, such as the unauthorised family visits or use of mobile phones, "but they never spoke of serious things". [Links] Certainly, for a long time the Palestinians have not been keeping to the rules they were meant to be following for running this particular prison. But there is a new element of uncertainty - from the perspective of UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and others - with the advent of the administration led by the Islamic militant group, Hamas. Hamas has said it will not recognise Israel, but it has hinted at continuity. [Links] Within 10 minutes of the US-UK forces, the Israelis manage to bring in bulldozers and other military equipment in its storming of the Jericho prison.

This raid brought 2 major questions. Firstly is there a collusion between the Israeli and the US-UK forces? Given that the Israeli manage to bring in bulldozers and all in their raid in such a short time certainly raises eyebrows. If the Israelis were not informed of the timing of withdrawal, could they have assembled such a force in so short a time? There were some examples of collusion between the British and the Israelis, and the Americans and the Israelis.
However, at this point, the evidence is not necessarily pointing in that direction. Strangely, there are no condemnations from the US or the British regarding the invasion and storming of the Palestinian prison.

Secondly, what is the legal status of the Palestinian courts? Ahmed Saadat was tried and cleared by the Palestinian judiciary. What right has the courts in Israel in trying him again? Is the Israeli judiciary of a higher standards or any more partial than that of the Palestinians? I guess the answer depends on who you talk to. If a country can just raid another country so as to retry a prisoner, where is justice then? Yes, I agree sometimes there are times when we do not agree with the outcome of a court proceedings but it does not mean we can take matters into our own hands. I hope this will not set a precedent to any countries as an excuse for invasion!

The fallout is to be expected. The British Council cultural centre in Gaza City were burned and foreigners were kidnapped. Although such actions cannot be justified, it is certainly understandable. This episode will sadly serve to strengthened the hands of the militant Hamas and justifies their existance and hardline attitude towards the Israel in particular and the West in general. President Abbas and his Fatah Party will be weakened further. It will take a long time for any compromise to be reached following this episode.

Mr Blair seemed to understand the problem in the Middle East when he said: "The only way we are ever going to get a peace process beginning again in the Middle East is if it is accepted that the solution the international community is committed to, a two state solution, can only be proceeded with if both sides accept the existence of the other state. We totally respect the mandate Hamas secured in the elections. We supported those democratic elections. We support them still. But if they want our help, both politically and financially to make progress, it has to be on an understood basis that means giving up violence, negotiating peacefully and accepting the existence of Israel. However his words does not hold any weight because there was no condemnation of Israel. By invading the Jericho jail, Israel once again demonstrated that the only law it will follow is Israel law. Since there is no respect and acceptance of the Palestinian state and its judiciary, how can they expect the Palestinian to respect and accept the existence of Israel?

[Ref1][Ref2][Ref3][Ref4][Ref5]
Text of U.S.-UK letter to Abbas
Israel press justifies Jericho raid
Q&A: Israel's Jericho jail raid
Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area
History of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

A true story

Categories: Others
I would like to relate a true story. This story involves a relative of a friend. I am relating this story to highlight the misfortunes some kids go through and to make parents aware of their responsibility. Lastly, hopefully someone can provide a good solution to this unfortunate story.

I will call this family A. Hubby A works in a factory and Ex-wife A a housewife. They have 2 children, Son A1 and Son A2. Years ago, Hubby A was involved in smuggling cigarettes into Singapore. He did this so that he can earn more money for the family. However one day he wanted out and told the boss so but was persuaded to do one more consignment. Luck would have it that he was caught and sentenced to jail. His misfortune did not end there for Ex-wife A later left him saying that she does not want to spent her life with a poor man. All this while, the family of Ex-wife A actually supported Hubby A and understood why Hubby A was involved in smuggling. They actually chided Ex-wife A for leaving Hubby A. Eventually the couple divorced.

Ex-wife A insisted that the children should be with her. Hubby A relented although he had wished for the children. Things had not gone well for the children. Eventually Ex-wife A met Boyfriend B. Son A1 who was already in primary school cannot accept him. Boyfriend B presence brought about a lot of conflict with the boy. This made Ex-wife A to punish son A1. During this time, son A1 had been doing badly in school. Hubby A finally convinced ex-wife A to let him take care of son A1 while son A2 remains with ex-wife A. Following this move, son A1 results improved. Although son A1 is to spend weekend with ex-wife A, he generally refuses to do so.

In the meantime, son A2 is neglected. Ex-wife A spends a lot of time with boyfried B (understandable). She also spend time playing mahjong. Son A2 was sent to aunt C to take care of him. Although ex-wife A was suppose to take son A2 home in the evening, she sometimes defaulted on this. Worse, sometimes she did not even pick up son A2 or even call for a few days. Because aunt C already has financial constraint taking care of her own 4 children, this put tremendous strain on aunt C and finally this arrangement was ended.

Now son A2 is in school. His school work is bad. Homework was not done. Despite the school calling on ex-wife A to supervise his homework, this comes to naught. One day he was to stay back for remedial class which ended at 3 pm. The school had called ex-wife many times but received no reply. Only at 5 pm, did ex-wife A call her mother (A2's grandmother) to ask her to pick up the child. Excuse ex-wife A given was that she forgot to fetch A2. Unfortunately son A2 cannot be found in school with the school compound already locked! So grandmother called out the other siblings to help looked for son A2. Ex-wife A did not help to look for the son because she was not free!! And this incident happened at a time following Nonoi's incident.

Eventually, aunt C found son A2 at 6.30pm. He was sitting on a slide looking pale and tired. When aunt C asked how he was, he just said he was tired. Later on it was found that he only had a piece of bread for breakfast and nothing for lunch. So aunt C carried him home. When cousin C, who is still in primary school, saw son A2, she cried and keep asking why ex-wife A neglected son A2. Imagine a child sympathises with another child. Incidentally, ex-wife A did not come to fetch son A2. Son A2 was brought back to ex-wife A by uncle D.

It is especially sad because all this while Hubby A is willing to take care of the children but ex-wife A refuses. One wonders why this is so if she found the children to be a hindrance on her independance. She somehow has lost her maternal instinct. Even animals have maternal instinct to take care of their babies, why has this mother lost hers?

After reading this story, I hope parents are made aware of their responsibility towards their children. Children are innocent. We as parents brought them to this world and it is only right that we take care of them. We may not be able to give them everything but at least we should give them proper love, food and shelter.

If anyone out there has any idea to solve this problem without having to resort to the courts, please leave your comments.