MUET

Malaysian University English Proficiency Test  or widely known is MUET is a kind of English for Academic purposes test. It started in early 2001 under the directive of then Datuk Najib Razak . One of the objectives of the test is to serve as mechanism to check the slide of the standard of English among pre university students in Malaysia. The Malaysian Examinations Council is given the task to manage the test. The test is now offered three times a year for students to take. The fees charge  is around 60 ringgit Malaysia.

The test is actually designed and developed by a steering committee formed by the Examinations Council. The members of the committe are mainly university lecturers who have years of teaching experience. There are approximate 10 people in the committee. It was headed by a person who lacked the knowledge of language testing.Now I believe the committee  is headed by someone who is very knowledgeable in language testing and is  very good in the English language. When it was first formed the members were invited from universities in Malaysia and the first test that they designed lacked proper construct and undermined purpose. But I believe now the test is a reasonably good test with a clear sense of purpose.

Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

This year Hari Raya was a mixed kind of celebrations for me. I would describe this year's raya as being cheerful and at times somber. The happy part is that I got to "Balik kampung" to my hometown in Sungai Petani a fast developing town that has become crowded because of the penangites who are coming in droves to make it their new homes.

The journey back home was tiring because of the traffic crawls all the way from KL to my hometown. The traffic would ease a little but then would return to a crawl once as it hits a major town. I reached my kampung half an hour before midnight after starting my journey at 3 pm after the Friday prayers. The happiness is in the travelling. What makes the raya is the traffic crawl. Once in my dad's home, all the so called modern amenities are not there anymore. I talking about the air cond, the flat screen tv, the wifi, the hot water shower and the toilet bowl. Mind you at a veteran age you find it difficult to use the squat toilet. I don't know how my dad does it. He's already 80 plus years old.

A fiend of mine who is a very successful lawyer would tell me that his children refused to balik kampung because of the lack of these modern amenities. A a result he and his family  would stay at a hotel in his hometown and would visit his parents only during the days . They would return to the hotel for the night. I think we are changing. The society is changing. I think it is much more acceptable now to stay at the hotel when you "balik kampung".

I really ope that the notion of balik kampung would continue in perpetuity. It is part an parcel of the Raya. I heard that the Indonesians would in drove would return to their kampung halaman in droves during the Raya holidays. Jakarta is a dead town during the Raya.

Selamat Hari Raya to all.

Perodua Myvi 2011

Today I will discuss  slightly different topic. I want to talk about cars specifically about a new car that I just bought for my son who is still studying at IIUM. I'm referring to the Myvi 1.3 Mystique purple which was just recently launched. I bought it in Kajang for approximately Rm 50,000 The car itself  is quite nippy and very economical. It looks  small from the outside but once you are inside the car you will be surprised by how spacious the car is. You can really stretch your legs to the fullest.

One thing that I like about the car is how responsive the engine is. A slight tap on the accelerator will move the car instantly. This is unlike the car that I drive which is a Honda Accord 2000 CC. You really need to depress the accelerator to the floor to get enough power to motivate the car. Despite flooring to the floor it only lazily moves forward. .Despite being overly eager to rev the engine is slightly noisy. Of course I'm comparing it to the Honda Accord. The engine in the Myvi would growl when it is pushed but make a claty sound on the lower rev. Overall I I find the Myvi as reasonably refined for a small car

Another feature that is sorely lacking in the Myvi is the lack of he arm rest for the front passenger and the driver. It makes long journey very tiring to the driver. Your need to relax your arm after a long journey. Dont expect that the driver to put his arms on the wheel all the time. I suppose Perodua would listen to this and start to consider placing an armrest in the Myvi.

Although the Myv has many pluses, one negative feature that I notice is the sponginess of the brake. It is so spongy. You really need to press harder and deeper to get the car stopped. This kind of braking is unsatisfactory especially for male drivers. In a hard dive you really need a quite sensitive brake to stop the car. I believe many people who bought the latest Myvi would complain about the brake.

Overall I find the car reasonably good with good plastics used in the car. The colour scheme is also quite good a good departure from the grey anf dark dashboard in the earlier models. I think it is a reasonably good buy. However I'm not surprised of the good quality of the car because of the Toyota heritage in it. Anyway the Perodua is just an assembler not like the proton which is  a full fledged manufacturer

Anwar Ibrahim

Without a doubt Anwar Ibrahim is a very charismatic figure. He is good looking and could charm audiences with his words and philosophies be it Asian or Western . He  is a guy that can muster support and convince people of his visions and beliefs. I too was relatively influenced by Anwar Ibrahim when he was a youth leader imbued with Islamic credentials, He was my model politician. I remembered in the mid 80s when he was in the US I drove him from the airport to a home of a Malaysia student for a meeting with Malaysian students in a state in America. At that time he was  still an En and  Datukship was conferred much later.

When he was still a cabinet minister under administration of Dr. Mahathir I still supported him believing that he was actually a victim of conspiracies by Dr. Mahathir. I just could not believe that the DPM would be involved in homoexual activities. When I was doing part time law at ITM my police friends who were doing the Diploma in Law too told me of the truth and that the truth was that he was a gay minister. Unfortunately I just did not believe them. When the Police raided his home I was there  the night before the raid to give him the moral support.

But the Anwar Ibrahim video shot was the breaking off point. I now believe that he is not a straight person he claimed to be. The recent video shots involving the Chinese prostitute changed everything. The man in the picture shows uncanning resemblance to the person in question.How it could not be him. His physical features are that of the ex DPM. One thing about the video shot is that Anwar Ibrahim too is good in bed. For an old person he is not that bad in term of his sexual prowess. His dick is reasonably big but not of gargantuan size. I don't think Dr. Mahathir can be as good as Anwar sexually. The Chinese prostitutes= that Anwar was in bed with was scratching her body all over  for itchiness when Anwar was in the toilet to cleanse himself. It is so nauseating watching the prostitute scratching her body. I really respect Anwar's wife. She is truly "isteri mithali"- the devoted and her unconditional love for Anwar. No matter what Anwar does she would support him.

Despite the photo shots and the videos the sad thing is that his ardent supporters still support him. Pas members still maintain that he is innocent because they claim that for Zina cases you need to have four witnesses. They just would continually support this crooked man. I still think that he will still pose a threat to UMNO.I suppose he will still be an irritant to the government. I think politically he is half dead

Asis

I have my  non-negotiable duty of visiting my youngest son every weekend at  Sekolah Menengah Sains Alam Shah or popularly known as ASIS in Cheras, KL. Although the preordained visits are a bit tiring it nonetheless is a welcome one. My time will be fully occupied during the weekends. During the visit we would have an early lunch around 1 pm or a very heavy tea at around 4 pm. But  the visits mainly would  be fully occupied with food related activities. In one of the visits last week my son complained of having  a bad stomachache. As usual he would display a sleepy and a fatigue looking face and practically begging me to take him back home for treatment.Of course as a responsible father I would say" No" A big no. There is no way that I would bring him back home just for the diarrhea. But the  soft side of me would always get bent and I finally relented. And I  ultimately gave in to my son's wishes with one  condition attached that he would get permission from the hostel master. However, this is no easy task for my son especially to convince Mr Allen, the stern looking  hostel master. This  is a no nonsense guy who would not bend one inch.His face is stoic and known for as a strict disciplinarian. During the weekend he would hover around the Surau and at the picnic places around the school. Most students at ASIS and some parents too would be would be petrified of seeing him.

As soon as I said a reluctant  "yes" slowly he walked to the hostel office where Mr Allen was stationed. My son was looking so tensed and nervous and rehearsing  the sentences that he would be using with the hostel master. I was at his back as usual  giving my moral support. My presence behind his back was not actually to give him moral support but to listen to what he has to say. After giving salam, in a slow stuttering  voice he introduced himself to Mr Allen and whispered  that he urgently  needed to go back home this Sunday afternoon. In a stuttering manner he said, "Sir, I have  gonorrhea. I need to go back home to get treatment." .My Allen was shocked. I too was startled by his revelation.It cannot be that my son has a gonorrhea, a form of STD. But actually what he wanted to say to Mr Allen was 'diarrhea'. Mr Allen who is  known for his strict and stern person could not hide his feelings  and burst into a loud laughter. I too laughed loudly. "Since you have gonorrhea and need a treatment I  hereby give  you my permission to return home".Muttered cynically Mr Allen with a very strong husky voice. My son was not aware that he said gonorrhea and not diarrhea until I told him later. He too burst into laughter. My son  was back not just until Monday but extended until Wednesday courtesy of the doctor who treated him .He  was also a student of ASIS. Long Live ASIS

PAS

I've always been quite reluctant to delve into topics about Islam or things pertaining to Islam. It is not that I dare not discuss the topics in general but I felt that it should be left to people who are more qualified to talk about it. Nonetheless, there are new issues that people have been talking about . I'm talking about issues brought about by Pas or Parti Islam Semalaysia. I feel that Pas now has gone off tangent. What I mean is that it has gone out from the Islamic objectives of the party. The new things that PAS has brought about  especially recently have shown that the party is moving away from the objectives of establishing Islamic state in Malaysia. It looks like PAS is becoming more secular and more "pragmatic". I don't really like to use the word pragmatic but  it actually describes the party as it is now. Pas is becoming more UMNO like. It is moving towards the center. I believe that this is not quite right. Pas should maintain its main principles. These things are non-negotiable. You can never negotiate the principles of Islam. But it seems that , this is what PAS is doing. It is abandoning it principles to accommodate with other Non -Malays or Muslim parties

What irks me is that Pas would never bend its principles when negotiating with UMNO. It would always stick to its gun. The fact that PAS was willing to change it Islamic credence just to accommodate Non Malays or non Muslim parties is benyond my understanding. It is sad to see Tok Guru changing his principles just for political purposes.  It is  a known fact that non Muslims would never accept Malaysia being a theological based nation. Karpal would have said "Cross my dead body" Pas's notion that UMNO is less Muslim is also a bewilderment  How could you claim you are more Islamic than the others? Only fools would do that.

I really hope good sense will come back to PAS. I sincerely hope that the party can still stick to its original aim. I feel that its previous objectives of making Malaysia an Islamic state will be realized better if they continue talking with UMNO. I know that it is a very difficult task. But given our doa and our prayers   I hope that this is not  just a dream but something that is not beyond reach

Gay Johor Minister

This is quite a hot news from Johor. It seems that Johor is now the center of attention. The attention now is on a minister in Najib's administration. It is reported that  the wife of this minister is very pretty but alas he's not interested in the sexy feminine body . He's more into young boys - Twenty something year old boys.

Wow! It seems like being gay is a very normal thing to do. First, we have Anwar Ibrahim  1. At present we are witnessing Anwar Ibrahim sodomy II.. The evidence is getting more convincing. Karpal Singh is scratching is head up and down to figure out on not guilty charges based on technicalities.

But what worries me is not so much of the minister or ex minister but actually our young children. I think one of the causes of this gay thing has really got to do with the boarding school syndrome. I bet these two ministers were at a boarding school. I believe they got their training or exposure while studying in this type of school. I even heard that ASIS school or Sekolah Menengah Sains Alam Shah at Cheras practise some sort of this nonsensical culture. They call it Toron which is more of physically abusing the body of a junior as a form of initiation at the school. This culture among by the students must be stopped. The school administration must take this thing seriously. We do not want our children who are the potential leaders of Malaysia to practise this weird culture. I believe this culture is the direct cause of sodomy and gay practices in Malaysia

Our Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyuddin Yassin who is also the Minister of Eduction need to stem out this hedonistic practice that is not inline with our Asian values  and Islamic culture and tradition. The inability of get rid may  result is a weak Malaysia.

Interlok

I don't really understand  what is the fuss about the novel Interlok. It seems that the Indian community in Malaysia  is not very happy with the use of the word pariah in the novel. They are demanding the government to withdraw the novel which is used as a literary text for form five students. They believe that the novel would inculcate a racist view among the young Malaysians. Some of the Hindu extremist have even burnt the books to show their dissatisfactions with the book. Some of these Indians also used the Thaipusam day  to degrade the Prime Minister by demonstrating against the use of the the novel.

I believe that most of these Indians have not read the novel. They only demonstrated based on what their leaders say. May be some of them get paid to demonstrate.

The novel itself was written more than 30 years ago by Abdullah Husain and it depicted the actual life of Malaysians at that particular time. At that time that word was used quite regularly and the readers of the novel understand the context that it is used. If the Indian community felt that the word pariah ought to be deleted than out of consistency they should also demand that the word be taken out from our own dictionaries.

It is just a trivial matter that is manipulated by opportunistic politicians that are out of ideas. These politicians are really bankrupt of ideas but wanting to stay relevant. The government should not be held ransom by the politicians and it should stand firm.

Rosmah Mansor

As the First Lady of Malaysia Rosmah Mansor should project the image of a very supportive wife to the husband, the Prime Minister of Malaysia. She should play the role of a good wife meaning someone who cares and loves her husband unconditionally. She should also project the image of a loving mother to her children.

 But alas, the image now that we have of Rosmah is unflattering. She is overshadowing her husband's image. She looks as if she the Commander in Chief or the Nakhoda of a ship. She looks very commanding to the extent that the husband looks so submissive.

The image that she is trying to project in  organizing the First Ladies summit is also confusing. What is the aim of the summit? Where does the money to organize the summit come from? What are the benefits of the summit to the country?

Besides wasting the rakyats' money organising a fruitless summit she is also involves heavily in the questionable   Permata Pintar project. She was given the budget that is worth millions of ringgit. Why is she given so much money.? And the sad thing is that the Permata Pintar is housed in UKM. The university which was previously known as UKM the research university is now known as UKM-Permata . But some UKM people are very happy with this  tag.

I believe the Prime Minister should reign in his wife. She must not be seen as someone who runs the country although in reality that is what she is doing. If Najib wants to last as long as Dr. Mahathir he would have to be a bit firmer in advising his is wife. Najib must also remind his wife to spend the rakyat's money with more responsibility. I hope the recent event in Tunisia would create some awareness in Rosmah to behave more responsibly