April 30, 2014

Deadly Creature

Imagine.

From a range of killers, it is shocking that man is the second largest killer, practicing genocide and war on his fellow countrymen.

Sadly, a known insect is the biggest killer of them all-the mosquito.

So, what has man done to advance medical science to rid the world of this scourge?

April 29, 2014

Imagine-Can this be an Italian Minister?

Is that a Standard Swearing in?
But then, she sure is.

That is Maria Elena Boschi signing the Register of Ministers after being formally sworn in.

 Noticed those extremely high-heel shoes of hers?

Vava Voom!


April 28, 2014

Dangerous Translation of English Words

Yes, when you do it wrongly, it becomes dangerously funny.

Errr.....? Saying the Obvious?

Look at the Malaysian Railway Authorities when they want to be politically correct with the use of Bahasa Malaysia for coaches reserved only for women.

It tickles, doesn't it?

April 27, 2014

Mythological Malaysia?

This is certainly a makeover for Mr. Obama.

The PR Job of 1 Malaysia
If only it is genuinely a mirror of One Malaysia.

Going Somewhere,Mr.PM?

Yes, do not be shocked.

At ease with the travelling public

This is indeed Mr David Cameron taking the Jubilee line to get to an appointment.

The Most Beautiful "Man"

This new she is Asia's most beautiful 'man'.

Born of mixed Korean-American heritage, don't you feel that she is delightfully beautiful and sensually exciting?

Delicately Beautiful

Seeing is believing and that is Yomi Kim Hunter for you!


A Sensual presence

Temptation Revisited

A Portrait of Loveliness

Come hither, all ye....

Dressed to Kill Amorously

April 26, 2014

Worked to Death

Forget the legislation of maximum working hours for a worker.

In this 24/7 fully wired world, all employees are on the go as well to beat the competition.

So, just like in a marriage vow, these days, the possibility of death do part employee and employer looms large.

Cheated to Death by Work and Technology

Let us look at this case.

" In December 2013, a 27-year-old Indonesian copywriter who tweeted “worked to death” collapsed, slipped into a coma and died a day after that.

It is believed that her death was caused by a combination of being overworked and excessive consumption of energy drinks, which she used to get her through her work.

“Worked to death” cases have been making headlines around the world over the past few years. These cases have been on the rise since advancements in mobile technology have made it almost impossible to stay away from work, even when one is away from the office.

Regus, a employment agency did a global survey and found that Malaysians are generally overworked. But based on the survey, 15% of Malaysians work more than 11 hours a day. This is higher in relation to the global 10% of employees who put in more than eight hours a day.

Although the Employment Act states that the maximum number of working hours for a person should not exceed 10 hours a day and 48 hours a week, many young employees today will tell you that their jobs take up more than the work hours laid out in the Act.

These days, there is something called digital working time, which refers to time spent responding to work matters through email, Internet or mobile connectivity beyond formal working hours.

It has now become an unspoken doctrine in the modern working world so as not to be seen as lazy or insubordinate for not responding to work-related matters beyond the normal working hours.

Competition and ambition have also made young employees feel that they must constantly be at the service of their companies or organisations, particularly with the technology of mobile connectivity these days.

“Hey I am taking the day off, if there’s anything, just Whatsapp me.” How many times have we heard young employees say that?

Or how many times have we heard employers utter the words: “Make sure you check your email when you are away.” This is usually in response to their employee going on leave.

The credo that no one is indispensable is also quietly being driven into the minds of young employees, and they become even more inclined to carry their work in the palm of their hands wherever they go.

But at what price to the employees? Burnout? Health problems? Strained family relations? Death?

Health statistics show that many Malaysians who suffer from depression, stress, cardiac problems and anxiety these days are from the 20 to 40 plus age group. Back in the good old days of yore , these health problems were only known to inflict older people.

What about the price that the companies and organisations will eventually have to pay? Demotivated staff? Drop in productivity? Accidents? High turnover rates?

Employers often tell their employees that time management is crucial and it is the responsibility of employees to manage their own time. While this is true, the employer too has a role to play in facilitating employees’ time management.

An occasional weekend spent at work and that occasional email after working hours is acceptable, but a line must be drawn when employers use technology to encroach into their employees’ private lives.

Realising that some companies are over-utilising technology to keep their employees on their toes, France has now made it illegal for digital and consultancy sector employees to respond to work related emails after 6pm on a work day.

Employees in these sectors are ordered to switch off their professional smartphones and must not be pressured to look at work related emails and documents on their tablets or computers from 6pm. France also forbids shifts between 9pm and 6am, except if the nature of the work is socially useful or plays an important role in the economy.

According to Michel de la Force, chairman of the General Confederation of Managers of France, extra work in exceptional circumstances is admissible, but employers and employees must always come back to what is normal. He defines normal as “to unplug and stop being permanently at work”.

Several European countries and companies are now considering the rule of ‘unplugging’ on the basis that after six hours, employees become tired and productivity will decline, even if they are pushed to continue working.

While a law to ensure employees in Malaysia ‘unplug’ from work remains only a dream for some, there are measures that employees and employers alike can take to ensure everyone achieves a healthy work-life balance.

A close friend, who is a manager in a private company, practices what she calls “self-unplugging” between 7pm and 7am, and on most weekends.

“I want to retain my health and sanity for my loved ones, because at the end the day, those who bury me will be my family, not the company I work for. Although it is not a company policy, I encourage the same for my staff. By doing this, I notice they come back to the office refreshed, alert, motivated and enjoy the work that they do,” she said. – The Borneo Post, April 16, 2014.

*The Tired Eye is a columnist at The Borneo Post. Taken from The Malaysian Insider".

Post Graduate Adaptation

Boga in Vietnam
There are many kinds of students enrolling for university courses these days.

While some are already experienced in some jobs before heading for the varsity to pursue their dreams, a vast majority are fresh from the school system,devoid of that maturity that work experience brings.

Kang Soon Chen wrote a piece on " Options after Graduation: Entering the Workforce in today's online STAR.

I have taken editorial licence to abridged and shorten it.

Interestingly, The Graduate Tracer Study carried out by then Higher Education Ministry found that 30% of first degree graduates were employed with a basic salary of more than RM 2,500 in 2012 while the Department of Statistics puts the figure of graduate unemployment at 65,000 that same year.

By ranking, pharmacy graduates were top earners in 2013, taking home RM 3,640 a month, followed by those  in corporate strategy (RM 3,200) and financial services (RM 3,054), according to an online job portal.

Increasingly, graduates are vying for graduate management training programmes offered by multinational corporations. These programmes enabled trainees to rotate between different departments so they can gain different skills.

There are various way to increase the employability of graduates — graduates are advised to brush up on their communication skills as well as clean up their social network profiles when applying for jobs.

As a local human resource recruiter says, employers do screen candidates on social media before making the final cut.

To increase the real-world work experience of students, universities and colleges are making internship a compulsory component in the course module.

Internship is the litmus test for undergraduates to decide whether it is the right career for them.

While it is common to hear of students being given menial jobs during their internship, students should make use of the internship period to network and build their professional contacts.

At the same time, more undergraduates are already working part-time in their chosen fields before sailing on to expand their careers by the time they graduate.

Jesse Pizarro Boga is one case. He was already employed as a journalist in a local newspaper when he was still a communications undergraduate.

“For two months after graduating, I stayed at home and did nothing."

“I wasn’t exactly excited about working immediately after graduating because I already had working experience,” says the 24-year-old Davao City native from the Philippines.

Boga later returned to his job as a feature writer at the local newspaper after his break.

“My interest to learn more about journalism and writing made me continue with the job I had in university.

Boga, currently on a one-year journalism fellowship in Hanoi, Vietnam, works at the English section of a local newspaper.

There are challenges living in a foreign city. For one, he has to forego his American fast food meal and adapt to Vietnamese noodle soup called pho.

He also cycles to work.

A Strange New Born Baby Monkey Encounter

It's not everyday that you would see a newly born monkey virtually on the edge of death.

After killing off the mother monkey, somehow the new born was befriended by a curious lioness and finally saved by the father monkey.

These pictures are heaven sent.

Mother Monkey Dies

A Curious Lioness

Looks Friendly

Plays with Baby Monkey

The Cute Cuddle

The Monkey Needs to Suckle

An Unperturbed Lioness

Male Mating Call

Father Monkey to the Rescue

Rescued by a Parent

April 22, 2014

Starbuck-Does It Really S.....?

Does it Really Suck?
This photograph taken with an open door of a Starbucks vehicle is truly opinionated.

What an irony!

April 17, 2014

The Passing of a Giant!

Fighting Injustice to the End

Karpal-The Scales of Justice

Yes, it is indeed sad news to hear of the passing of the great Karpal Singh.

The Journey Home
He is justice incarnate and also undoubtedly always on the side of fair play and justice.

In His Element
We were dealt with the misfortune of the death of Karpal Singh on the wee hours of Thursday 17 April 2014. He met his untimely death when his Toyota Alphard smashed into a slow moving lorry at Gua Tempurong, the death stretch on the North-South Highway.

In Seventh Heaven Rejoicing  an Election Win
A state funeral has been respectfully accorded to him by the State Government of Penang.

Thanking the voting Constituents

We salute and bid a sad farewell to the greatest fighter of our times, Karpal Singh.

A Deserving State Funeral

Mass Crowd of People at Karpals' Final Journey

A Family's Grieving Farewell

Senior Citizen Comical Woes

These  two cartoon speaks volume for us old foggies!
Irrepressible Fun

Old Foggies Reality!




What a Winederful World This Is!


Yes, wine, the essence of fermented grapes.


That tipsy feeling generator.


Here are some world wisdom about it.



Enjoy!

April 15, 2014

The Human Parrot

Parrot Poise

Drapped in artistic parrot colours, is a human being in parrot stance.

Do you see it?

People Will Think We Are in Love

True Cowboy Romance
For those who adore the film version of the musical Oklahoma, you will definitely appreciate the romantic fervor of this song sung by Gordon McRae and Shirley Jones.

Absolutely precise in terms of indicator actions and feelings of a blooming romance.

Enjoy these lyrics.

Go to You-tube to enjoy the song.

LAUREY ( Shirley)

Why do they think up stories that link my name with yours? 

CURLY (Gordon)

Why do the neighbors chatter all day, behind their doors? 

LAUREY

I know a way to prove what they say is quite untrue. 
Here is the gist, a practical list of "don'ts" for you. 
Don't throw bouquets at me 
Don't please my folks too much 
Don't laugh at my jokes too much 
People will say we're in love! 

Don't sigh and gaze at me 
Your sighs are so like mine 
Your eyes mustn't glow like mine 
People will say we're in love! 

Don't start collecting things 
Give me my rose and my glove. 
Sweetheart they're suspecting things 
People will say we're in love. 

CURLY

Some people claim that you are to blame as much as I.
Why do y' take the trouble to bake my favorite pie?
Grantin' your wish, I carved our initials on that tree.
Jist keep a slice of all the advice you give so free.

Don't praise my charm too much 
Don't look so vain with me 
Don't stand in the rain with me 
People will say we're in love! 

Don't take my arm too much 
Don't keep your hand in mine 
Your hand feels so grand in mine 
People will say we're in love! 

Don't dance all night with me 
Till the stars fade from above. 
They'll see it's alright with me 
People will say we're in love.

The Compassion of Rosmah

To emphatise with the unfortunate next of kin
Everyone needs to do their bit, no matter how small, how matter how insignificant it may be to make the next of kin of the missing MH 370 passengers and crew m at ease while they await news of the SAR efforts for the missing plane.

Here, we can see the compassion of the Prime Minister's wife as she consoled the next of kin.

Bootstrap Living for New Job Entrants in Malaysia

Ultra competitive job market with Insufficient Pay
The runaway inflation unleashed by the simultaneous removal of oil and sugar subsidies and the increase in power tariffs and minimum wages in late 2013; and the the beginning of 2014 is indeed killing new entrants into the job market.

The latest study by on-line recruitment company, Jobstreet.com revealed the plight of these new entrants wandering into the job market.

Earning a meager starting pay of an average of RM 2,500, graduates in the job market are struggling to make ends meet, so revealed this poll.

Some 2,062 of the new workforce in various industries participated in this poll. They were asked about their income and expenditure.

Jobstreet reported that 77% of the respondents did not have any savings after spending on essentials. Essentials here would include car loans and mandatory payback on study loans as the major commitments.

Because of higher fuel prices, transportation costs were among the top expenses. Some RM 1,500 of their salary go towards essentials.

Fortunately, some of these graduates had the safety net of their parents to rely upon. The study found that 50% of these graduates lived with their parents while 30% co-rented out houses with friends and colleagues. The balance had to live on their own.

For 87% of them, they have only one job and salary source. As such, do not be surprised when fresh graduate interviewees brazenly asked for above market rates from RM 3,500 to RM 6,500 for their start-up jobs.

However, sadly most employers were only prepared to offer fresh graduates salaries from RM 2,500 to RM 2,800 monthly. As such, its no wonder that fresh graduates, trying to cope with increasing living costs,are always on the look-out for better paying jobs, causing high turnovers in some industries, reported some 66% of of employers interviewed.

So, for those joining the job market soon, be ready to face the bleakness of working life--high inflation rates,lower standards of living, possibly more debts and utter depression as your lunch and dinner budgets continue shrinking.

Come next April 2014, it could be certainly be worse with the implementation of GST.

So do not hesitate to cry, won't you?

April 14, 2014

A Night at the Museum

Excitement at the Penang Museum
Remembered the Ben Stiller movie, "The Night at the Museum" and all those things can came alive after the doors closed from the public at night?

Incidentally, for me, I am teaching Note Expansion for Std 5 and Std 6 pupils and one of the topic I intend to teach was exactly this topic.

So, when I read today's online STAR about the event they approved for the public to stay overnight at the Penang Museum, I just had to blog on this one.

The event was dubbed, A Night at 57, Macalister which is the street address of the museum. Anyone can apply to join the first ever hair-raising slumber party of the museum premise. Forty people join this firs-ever sleep over at the museum.

Before going to bed, they will be shown a host of horror movies, be given a ghost story telling session as well as a sketch on a childbirth in progress enacted by the museum staff.

Why the childbirth enactment, you may ask? That is because the museum was the former King Edward V11 Maternity Hospital where nearly 60,000 babies were delivered. Then the Japanese used it as a naval hospital during their occupation of Malaya. Subsequently, when the British came back, they used it as military barracks before turning it back again into a hospital. In 1955, it ceased being a hospital once more.

The St. John Ambulance and the Red Cross Society then moved in; followed by the Center for Penang NGOs. Then it was left vacant for two years before being turned into the Penang Museum.

This 99-year old museum is replete with all types of ghostly tales. CCTV footage has shown closing doors, shifting chairs, strange flying lights and sounds of heavy breathing at the mortuary.

The participants arrived with sleeping bags,torch lights and other personal essentials. They were served a buffet dinner using hospital-type trays.

When darkness fell, the group were split into smaller groups and given a tour of the various parts of the museum including the mortuary and post-mortem facility. Incidentally both these facilities were gutted in a mysterious fire two months before this overnight stay event.

The next morning, the participants were woken up to take part in a treasure hunt. One of the participants apparently felt someone touching her shoulder when she was given a tour of the pantry last night.

Due to the success of this pilot overnight stay, more of such events will be organised in the future.

Interestingly, all the participants were given practical advice before participating in the overnight museum stay.

Here are some of them.

When you need to go to the toilet, bring along a friend. Otherwise you risk bringing back 'two phantom friends'.

When you take a shower,always keep one piece of clothing on.

Watch what you say and no brave claims of gung-ho bravery

Carina-Beauty with Brains


Carina Tyrell is no ordinary beauty queen. On the face of it, with her towering heels, skirt slit to the thigh and a plunging neck-line, the new 24 year old Miss Cambridgeshire is every inch the stereotypical beauty queen. However, truth be told, she is a fifth year medical student at Cambridge University.


Her father was a top-notch physicist  who helped build the Large Hadron Collider, while her mother was  an executive with the World Health Organisation. Carina has been predicted to get a first-class honours degree in her finals this year.