Monday, August 31, 2009

31st August 2009

First, Najihah bt Ayoib was borne on this day 15 years ago... She was in the hostel today. I didn't get the chance to see her but I managed to buy her a journal and passed it through her brother just now. I thought she could use it to write something that could help her to cope with her life in the hostel. Then, 28 years ago...on this day also I was at the Dataran Merdeka, marching with my bandmates, representing the Johor state in the National Parade,1981. I was in Form 4 then.
Sweet 16...

My band years in STF...


Najihah at the Strawberry Farm, Mornington Peninsula, Melbourne, Australia 1998

Najihah now....


Me and Najihah....


MERDEKA!!!

Friday, August 21, 2009

DREAM

I dreamt of my Tok Parit and Uci this morning. They came to my house to visit me...

"Uci apa khabar?" I greeted her. She was wearing a very light coloured dress.
Sihat...

Abah was there too. He was not on wheel chair anymore. He was busy taking out the wheel chair from the car. He wanted to assist Tok Parit with the chair.


Tomorrow is Ramadhan but they have already paid their visit to me today. But Abah was in the dream too. I wonder why....

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

FACEBOOK


By MICHAEL HILL,Associated Press Writer AP - Friday, August 14
ALBANY, N.Y. -


Alice Connors-Kellgren was surprised by her boyfriend's new Facebook profile picture a few weeks ago: He was kissing another girl on the cheek.
The picture was up only briefly. And she figures it was just a friend. But she plans to discuss it with him when they're back together this fall at Cornell University.
"We trust each other. Deep down, I know nothing is going on. But when you first see it, it's like `Oh my goodness! What's going on here?'" says the college student from Westchester County, N.Y.
All this friending, poking and picture-posting on Facebook can get you in trouble with your significant other. Couples are finding that old flames and flirty friends on the social networking site have a unique ability to stir jealousy and suspicion.
Jealous types now have to deal with brand-new kinds of provocations, such as a comment on their partner's wall from a possible romantic rival, or their loved getting tagged _ identified _ in a picture from an old relationship. Boyfriends and girlfriends can view all of this on their partners' walls.
"It seems like Facebook is creating jealousy even where there was not jealousy to begin with," said Amy Muise, a doctoral candidate at the University of Guelph's psychology department who led a recent study on how Facebook can spark jealousy in romantic relationships among college students.
She said Facebook doesn't necessarily make people more jealous than they would be normally. But all the information divulged on Facebook _ those answers to "What's on your mind?" and reactions to those posts _ can increase "triggers" for jealousy.
"Part of the issue with information on Facebook is that it lacks certain context, " Muise said, "so there could be things posted on your partner's wall that you really don't know what it means."
The study was based on anonymous online survey data from 308 undergraduate Facebook users, three quarters of them women. The study, published in CyberPsychology & Behavior, found Facebook users can get snagged in a "feedback loop": Their interest piqued by a cryptic wall comment, they become suspicious and start monitoring their partner's pages, thus finding even more suspicious information.
Dan Fitzsimmons, a 21-year-old University of Albany student, said he has had to explain Facebook photos to girlfriends in the past.
Samantha Siciliano, an incoming freshman at Quinnipiac University from North Adams, Mass., said she has become jealous over the back-and-forth on her old boyfriend's wall, especially from too-friendly comments like "You look cute."
"If your boyfriend is calling or texting another girl, you can't really see it. But on Facebook, you can see it and so can everyone else," Siciliano said. "So in a way, you do get jealous because he might be hanging his dirty laundry, and not only are you seeing it, but other people are, too."
Colin Booth of West Virginia University said he is not the jealous type, but finds it a strange, modern phenomenon to watch your girlfriend develop other relationships in real time on Facebook.
"It's been happening forever. You're with a girl, she meets a guy, they're friends at first," Booth said. "But it's the way you see it and what you see. And then you think: What's going on under the surface if this is what's going on in public?"
Laney Cohen, a 24-year-old who works in public relations in New York City, has a longtime boyfriend now in law school in Florida. She began noticing last year that her boyfriend was being tagged in photographs with a female friend who "kind of rubs me the wrong way." One picture in particular upset her: The pair were in a bar, and the woman was looking up at Cohen's boyfriend.
"I felt that it was a very couple-y picture to be in, and I freaked out and I called him and said, `This is disrespectful to me and our relationship. What if people start asking questions about why you're always hanging out with her?'" Cohen recalled.
This is not just a problem for young people, especially as more middle-aged people get on Facebook. Cohen said her father, after 29 years of marriage, was tagged in a 32-year-old photo by a former girlfriend. Cohen's mother was amused, not upset.
Muise said researchers are just beginning to learn all the ways social networking sites are changing the way couples relate. She cited the case of a young woman who found out her boyfriend broke up with her when she noticed he had changed his relationship status to "single."
For her part, Cohen said she and her boyfriend worked out their photo-tagging issue.
"He's either untagging photos or not showing up in the photos anymore," she said. "Either way is fine."


Questions:

1. How long do we spend our time surfing the internet everyday?

2. Is internet important to us?

3. Can we see the danger or do we think that we cannot live without it?

Monday, August 17, 2009

Honesty


"Our lives improves only when we take chances-and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest to ourselves"

-William Shakespeare-

WHO's FAULT IS IT ANYWAY...

Influenza A(H1N1): Take care or pay the price
2009/08/17 (NST online)
R. Sittamparam

Anyone with symptoms who ignores the Health Ministry’s advice and spreads H1N1 faces RM10,000 fine or two years’ jail.
KUALA LUMPUR: Those found to have wilfully spread influenza A (H1N1), which has so far claimed 62 lives including three yesterday, face a fine of up to RM10,000 or up to two years in jail.The government has decided to enforce Section 12(1) of theDisease Control Act in another effort to contain the rapidspread of the disease, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong
Lai said yesterday.Court action will be taken against people who have influenza-like illness symptoms but defy the ministry’s call to seektreatment, isolate themselves or wear masks.Speaking after opening the Lifelong Health Carnival for the Serdang area, Liow said: “The Ministry of Health takes this very seriously. We want everybody to abide by our call to help stop the spread of H1N1.“We’ve to work together to stop the spread. I’m appealing to the public to adhere to our call for those who are ill, having flu, fever and cough to please wear masks and isolate themselves to stop the spread to the public.”He said people who have symptoms of influenza-like illness could also get seven days’ medical leave to quarantine themselves.Liow said two of the three deaths recorded yesterday were due to delayed treatment with the anti-viral drug Tamiflu, adding that the ministry would investigate the cause of the delay. The Health Ministry has also set up a special focus group tostudy the mutation of the virus and analyse the cause of death of every victim."This is to determine that the cause of death of every victim is confirmed as H1N1 and not any other virus."
Liow said the focus group was monitoring the H1N1 virus closely and so far, it had reported that most of the present deaths were caused by H1N1.
Asked about complaints by private hospitals facing problems stocking enough Tamiflu, Liow said he would be meeting with the suppliers of the drug soon to try and reduce its price and to ensure it was available to everybody.Liow said 200,000 seasonal flu vaccines had been given to frontline medical staff to safeguard them.Asked about the commercial sector taking advantage of H1N1 in their advertisements, Liow said his ministry would check on such advertisements to prevent them from misleading the public to make profits.


p/s: 2 of my children went home yesterday evening because 2 Form 3 students in their school were confirmed of having H1N1. That morning all the Form 3 students had their PMR Trial Exam in the hall despite the condition of the school. The 2 ill students were placed on stage while the rest were on the floor and they went through all the papers until afternoon......Later, the teachers told them that they were given the choice to stay in the hostel or ferry home. They are allowed to be like the 'daily school students until further notice is given.....

Sunday, August 16, 2009

2pm, Sekolah Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin, Jitra, Kedah

Masyitah and her friends


"Kenapa tak pakai topeng?"

"Lupa bawak tadi"
"Dah habis..."
"Takdak..."
"Saya ada topeng tapi topeng saya berbulu makcik..."

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Nyawa di Hujung Tanduk

To Anisah and Masyitah...and my other children who were born normal...

Friday, August 7, 2009

CAUTION!


Internet and teenagers



Reuters, NEW YORK - Teenagers who are preoccupied with their Internet time may be more prone to aggressive behavior, researchers reported Monday.


In a study of more than 9,400 Taiwanese teenagers, the researchers found that those with signs of Internet "addiction" were more likely to say they had hit, shoved or threatened someone in the past year.


The link remained when the investigators accounted for several other factors -- including the teenagers' scores on measures of self-esteem and depression, as well as their exposure to TV violence.


The findings, published online by the Journal of Adolescent Health, do not however prove that Internet addiction breeds violent behavior in children.


It is possible that violence-prone teenagers are more likely to obsessively use the Internet, explained lead researcher Dr. Chih-Hung Ko, of Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan.


However, the findings add to evidence from other studies that media -- whether TV, movies or video games -- can influence children's behavior. The also suggest that parents should pay close attention to their teenagers' Internet use, and the potential effects on their real-life behavior, Ko told Reuters Health.


According to Ko's team, some signs of Internet addiction include preoccupation with online activities; "withdrawal" symptoms, like moodiness and irritability, after a few Internet-free days; and skipping other activities to devote more time to online ones.


In this study, teenagers who fit the addiction profile generally were more aggression-prone than their peers. But the type of Internet activity appeared to matter as well.


Online chatting, gambling and gaming, and spending time in online forums or adult pornography sites were all linked to aggressive behavior. In contrast, teens who devoted their time to online research and studying were less likely than their peers to be violence-prone.


According to Ko, certain online activities may encourage kids to "release their anger" or otherwise be aggressive in ways they normally would not in the real world. Whether this eventually pushes them to be more aggressive in real life is not yet clear, the researcher said.


Ko recommended that parents talk to their children about their Internet use and their general attitudes toward violence.

H1N1


So, almost everyone at work is talking about H1N1. In KMK itself, one student had been confirmed carrying the virus and he was sent home. Other students have been reported to have the symptoms like fever, cough, flu, etc..etc...I went to a clinic in Jitra last night, to have my second daughter examined by Doc Nassier, a very friendly and popular doctor in Jitra. He is a skin specialist but people have been seeing him to seek advice and treatment for other illnesses. Although the doctor said that Amirah was only having mild sore throat and headache, there is no confirmation that these discomforts may not turn to be Influenza A. So, we were told to take multivitamins and drink alot of plain water. And, pray to God that there will be a stop to this destructable pandemic. Aameen...


My students...listening practice at the Banquet Hall.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Demi Masa

Demi masa...
Sesungguhnya manusia kerugian
Melainkan...
Yang beriman dan beramal saleh
Ah...

Demi masa...
Sesungguhnya manusia kerugian
Melainkan...
Nasihat kepada kebenaran dan kesabaran
Ah...

Gunakan kesempatan yang masih diberi
Moga kita takkan menyesal
Masa usia kita jangan disiakan
Kerna ia takkan kembali

Ingat lima perkara, sebelum lima perkara
Sihat sebelum sakit
Muda sebelum tua, kaya sebelum miskin
Lapang sebelum sempit
Hidup sebelum mati

Demi masa...
Sesungguhnya manusia kerugian
Melainkan...
Yang beriman dan beramal saleh
Ah...