REVIEW UEC ENTRY QUALIFICATION TO LOCAL UNIVERSITIES

On 14 May 2008 Klang Parliamentarian Charles Santiago in his speech questioned why Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) was not accepted as entry qualifications to local universities.

On 15 May the Minister of Higher Education Khaled Nordin reasoned that UECs - syllabus and assessment system of Chinese Secondary Independent School – were not in conformity with national education system.

It has to be stressed that the UECs are accepted entry qualifications in top universities in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Taiwan. These universities include: University of Melbourne (27), University of Sydney (31), National University of Singapore (33), Peking University (36), Chinese University of Hong Kong (38), Tsinghua University (40), Nanyang Technological University (69), National Taiwan University (102). The number in bracket indicates the university ranking in Times World University Ranking 2007, none of Malaysia universities listed in the top 200 universities.

I believe that (1) every Malaysian has a right to education in local universities, regardless of race and cultural background as long as students fulfill academic requirements; (2) Malaysia’s multi culture tradition must be reflected in our education system; (3) it is the government responsibility to evaluate and ensure accreditation and equivalence of non-national education systems

According to Malaysia Qualification Framework (MQF) drafted by Malaysia Qualification Agency (MQA – Previously known as National Accreditation Agency – LAN), the requirements of university foundation course are as below :

“MQF determines standards for these certificates to ensure comparability and standardization of student abilities. Generally, these are conferred on students who are able to:

i) Show knowledge and comprehension in the field of study that is continued from secondary school as indicated in advanced text books;

ii) Use knowledge and comprehension to identify and use data in respond to concrete and complex problems;

iii) Communicate and clarify understanding and skills to peers and supervisors; and

iv) Demonstrate skills for purposes of pursuing higher education “

(appendix 1, Page 8)

In my view, the Ministry of Higher Education should apply the above criteria to access UECs qualifications. The Minister could impose additional language requirement for non-national school students, in order to ensure applicants “Demonstrate skills for purposes of pursuing higher education”

The Ministry and Independent schools must dialogue in order to identify the various strategies with the view of accepting UECs as entry requirement to local universities.

A fair and non-politicized entry requirement ensures meritocracy in the education system and ensures social-economic equality. It will stop the brain drain and money leaving the country.

I urge the Cabinet and Minister of Higher Education to review the decision on UEC entry qualification to local universities in the best interest of the nation.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Charles Santiago

MP Klang

016-626 7797

mpklang@yahoo.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Walk is On!

This is the Button commemorating the Walk for Media Freedom on 1st June 2008. Since we are operating without any sponsorship, we need your help to defray the cost of these buttons as well as other expenses incurred to organize this event. It will therefore be highly appreciated if you will kindly make a small donation for this button.

Due to budget constraints, we have ordered only 500 pieces of this button and they will be made available on a first come first served basis.

The program for the morning is as follows…

9 – 9:45am	Walkers arrive individually at the National Flag at Dataran Merdeka, show their respect, and then proceed immediately to the National Press Club. Please DO NOT gather anywhere at the Dataran. If there are any blockades, simply avoid those and find another route to the NPC. No confrontation and no heroics please.
10:00 am	Welcoming address by the organisers
10:15 am	Keynote address by Datuk Zaid Ibrahim
10:45am	Sharing by participants followed by Q&A
11:30am	Reading of the 1st June Statement
11:40am	Re-reading of the 3rd May Memorandum
11:50am	Launch of the signature campaign endorsing the 3rd May Memorandum
12:00 noon	Resolution on Media Freedom

Time For Answers From Ex MB

Even after stepping out of office, former Selangor Mentri Besar still says confidently:

“I've done nothing wrong!” “Don't you all see my contributions?”

“All I did were for the people of Selangor.” “I can withstand the investigation”. We are all waiting to see.

Finally, at the state assembly last week, Ex MB sat on the seat of the Opposition. Teng Chang Khim used to sit there a few months ago.

I wonder whether Ex MB did request for appropriations to renovate this special chair reserved for him. If so, the new design should be done according to his mood at the moment: to be on thorns.

Since Ex MB was willing to put aside his pride and to attend the assembly as the Opposition, of course the incumbent Selangor government would take the opportunity to ask for advice. For example, over the past few years, the state government has carried out 62 plans, suffered a loss of RM36 million and the failure rate was over 90%.

"It looks like the state assembly should be held over time so that Ex MB could explain one by one how he did it."

- Don't we all see his contributions as he could lose RM36 million of the people's and the country's money?

Before the general elections, Selangor former state assemblymen led by Ex MB had been allocated RM500,000 each, and they spent all the money within two months.

- He did all for the people of Selangor, how fortunate the Selangor people were!

A few days after the general elections, the Wives of Selangor Assemblymen and MPs Welfare and Charity Organisation (Balkis) has been dissolved and its funds were transferred to other organisation's account.

- Ex MB said he has done nothing wrong.

The Pakatan Rakyat state government and the people are still waiting and see how Ex MB respond to other issues. For example, on the general elections eve, the state government has hastily signed a contract with the water supply company, selling the state government-owned company with a very cheap price, lands sold at cheap prices, black box construction contract projects, villas for state assemblymen worth millions of ringgit, the Zakaria's palace, ect.

It looks like the state assembly should be held over time so that Ex MB could explain one by one how he did it. However, Ex MB was a bit reserved and refused to reveal his true skill.

Two days later, he said: “It is a waste of my time as the Pakatan Rakyat state government only pointed out the errors of the former state government instead of planning for the future.”

Ex MB, we really want to know about the efforts you have done in the past, how could it be touched on the surface just like that? If we do not make clear of your contributions, how could the people of Selangor understand what efforts you have done for them?

So please keep on digging, the Pakatan Rakyat state government. And don't ever disappoint Ex MB.

(By TAY TIAN YAN/ Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE/ Sin Chew Daily)

" A picture is more than a thousand words."

2 coincidental idiotic incidents

1. School uniform sexy, says group

2. M'sian tourism rep in Taipei nabbed for molesting woman

1.School uniform sexy, says group

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian group condemned the uniform worn by girls at government schools, saying it encouraged rape and pre-marital sex.

"The white blouse is too transparent for girls and it becomes a source of attraction," National Islamic Students Association of Malaysia vice-president Munirah Bahari said in a statement.

"It becomes a distraction to men, who are drawn to it, whether or not they like looking at it," she said, calling for a review of uniform policy so that it did not violate Islamic ideals.

In multicultural Malaysia, home to majority-Muslim Malays as well as ethnic Chinese and Indians, female students at government schools have a choice of wearing a white blouse with a knee-length skirt or pinafore.

They may also wear a "baju kurung" and a headscarf is optional for Malay students.

Munirah said that "covering up" according to Islamic precepts was important to fend off social ills, including "rape, sexual harassment and even premarital sex."

"This leads to babies born out of wedlock and, to an extent, even prostitution," she said.

"Decent clothes which are not revealing can prevent and protect women from any untoward situations," she said, suggesting that girls wear a blouse of a different colour or with an undergarment. However, the girls themselves also came in for criticism, with the association saying that some used the white blouse to lure men.

"This is the source of the problem, where we can see that schoolgirls themselves are capable of using this to attract men to them," Munirah said.

"This could see them getting molested, having premarital sex and all sorts of things." – AFP

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She was just angry because her Abang went to the Asia World Shopping Mall and groped another woman, and not herself. So the only way to hit back on Abang is to blame young and sexy girls. Very clever!

2.M'sian tourism rep in Taipei nabbed for molesting woman

TAIPEI (May 22, 2008): A Malaysian tourism promotion representative was arrested for sexually molesting a female shop assistant.

Ahmad Junaidy Yahya, deputy director of the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board's representative office in Taiwan, was detained Tuesday (May 20) evening at the Asia World Shopping Mall in Taipei, the Liberty Times reported today.

Smelling of alcohol after attending a dinner party, Junaidy went to the Asia World Shopping Mall and tried to chat up a shop assistant. He groped the woman's back and private parts.
When the alleged victim screamed, Junaidy tried to flee but was stopped by shopping mall security guards.

Police took Junaidy to the police station for questioning, according to the Liberty Times. He was released yesterday morning after he apologised to the victim and asked for a private settlement.

The victim agreed to Junaidy's release but reserved the right to press charges of sexual harassment.
Junaidy, an employee of the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB), was dispatched in 2005 to Taipei.

He is currently deputy director of the MTPB's representative office in Taipei, which is in charge of promoting Malaysia to Taiwan tourists.

Janice Lai Seh-chen, director of Taiwan Tourism Bureau, said the incident was Junaidy's personal matter and would not affect tourism ties between Taiwan and Malaysia, the Liberty Times reported. - dpa

************************************************************

Wonder what is our Tourism's Minister's response?

Use the tax payers' money to jolly ke!

A little bit of Selangor history

First of all, Selangor territory used to include Negeri Sembilan and part of Perak extending to Kampar and Tapah. Due to the ‘war’ between Selangor and Perak (over the rich tin fields in that area), the British decided to redraw the Perak-Selangor boundary. To make it easy for everyone and to avoid future territorial disputes, the Bernam River was adopted as the new state boundary, thus ‘shrinking’ Selangor a wee bit.

Negeri Sembilan was ‘annexed’ after the Chinese massacred all the Malays, including Raja Busu and his entire family, in Lukut in 1834. Later on, Kuala Lumpur and Perang Besar were also annexed. Kuala Lumpur is the Federal Capital of Malaysia while Perang Besar was renamed Putrajaya and is now Malaysia’s administrative capital.

Selangor used to be under the protection of the Sultan of Perak until 1766 when Sultan Mahmud Shah, the 16th Sultan of Perak, installed Raja Lumu as Sultan Salehuddin Shah, the First Sultan of Selangor. Raja Lumu was the son of Daeng Chelak, the Second Yamtuan Muda of Riau. Daeng Chelak, in turn, was the son of Upu Tenribong Daeng Rilaka, the Raja of Riau, who was in turn the son of Upu Lamadusalat.

Sultan Ibrahim Shah succeeded his father, Raja Lumu, as the Second Sultan of Selangor in 1778. Sultan Ibrahim Shah had 23 children from his four wives but it was Sultan Muhamad Shah from his third wife (Che Halijah Maharaja Lela Hussain) who succeeded him as the Third Sultan of Selangor.

Sultan Muhamad Shah had twelve children. However, the Fourth Sultan of Selangor was his nephew, Sultan Abdul Samad, son of Raja Abdullah (Tengku Panglima Besar), who was the younger half-brother of Sultan Muhamad Shah from Sultan Ibrahim Shah’s fourth wife.

Sultan Abdul Samad had seven children, none who succeeded him as Sultan. The Fifth Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Ala’eddin Suleiman Shah, was his grandson from his eldest son, Raja Muda Musa. Raja Muda Musa died on 7 July 1884 while Sultan Ala’eddin Suleiman Shah ascended the throne on 1 August 1898.

Sultan Ala’eddin Suleiman Shah, the Sixth Sultan of Selangor, had ten wives and 44 children (my grandmother, Tengku Badariah, who married her cousin Raja Sir Tun Uda, was one of the 44 children and was the elder sister of Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah). Due to British intervention, Sultan Abdul Samad’s eldest son from his first wife, Tengku Musa’eddin, was not allowed to ascend the throne. Instead, Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah became the Seventh Sultan of Selangor in 1938 but was removed by the Japanese in 1942.

Tengku Musa’eddin ruled from 1942 to 1945 as Sultan Ghiathuddin Riayat Shah after which Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah was given back the throne when the Japanese surrendered in 1945. Tengku Musa’eddin was then sent into exile in the Cocos Islands but was allowed to come home ten years later where he died in Kelang in 1955 without leaving any heirs.

Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah became the Second Agong in 1960 and died that same year after which his son, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, became the Eighth Sultan of Selangor. Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, the present Sultan of Selangor, is the Ninth Sultan of Selangor.

Over the last 40 years, Selangor has had 14 Chief Ministers (Menteri Besar), seven appointed and seven elected.

The seven appointed Chief Ministers are:

1. Dato’ Hamzah Bin Abdullah (1948-1949)
2. Raja Sir Tun Uda Al-Haj Bin Raja Mohamad (1949-1953 and 1954-1955)
3. Dato’ Othman Bin Mohamad (1953-1954)
4. Tun Dr Abdul Aziz Bin Hj Abdul Majid (1955-1956)
5. Tuan Muhammad Ismail Bin Abdul Latiff (1956-1958)
6. Tan Sri Abdul Jamil Bin Abdul Rais (1958-1959)
7. Dato Abu Bakar Bin Baginda (1959-1964)

The seven elected Chief Ministers are:

1. Dato’ Seri Hj Harun Bin Idris (1964-1976)
2. Dato Haji Hormat Bin Rafei (1976-1982)
3. Tan Sri Dato Hj Ahmad Razali Bin Haji Mohd Ali (1982-1986)
4. Tan Sri Dato Haji Muhammad Bin Haji Mohamad Taib (1986-1997)
5. Dato Seri (Dr) Haji Abu Hassan Bin Haji Omar (1997-2000)
6. Dato Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Bin Toyo (2000-2008)
7. Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim (2008- )

3 Abdul(s)

To all P Ramlee's diehard fans, his legacy continues..

Cuba pula kita lihat 3 Abdul...tuan penasihat ada macam-macam. Tapi kalau silap pilih, penasihat yang paling bijak pun boleh jadi macam sangkar perangkap monyet. Silap haribulan perangkap makan tuan . Tuan penasihat memang dah tetapkan 25% dalam tiap urusan. Modal dia, bagi idea saja, air liur saja. Begitulah sekarang, tiap urusan memang dah ada '25%' itu untuk orang tengah. "Kalau marah nanti kena jual". Itulah syarat utama dalam perjanjian 3 Abdul (Wahid, Wahad, Wahud) dengan Saddiq Sigaraga (FIL).
Apa maksud P.Ramlee itu. Apa kena-mengena dengan orang marah.

Put 20 and 62 = Laughing Stock

In 1988, Onmu was split into 2. From the ashes of the old Onmu, a party created on 11 May 1946, emerged 2 new parties, Onmu (Balu) and S46. A few days ago, on 11 May 2008, Onmu celebrated its 20th Anniversary. The backdrop in the main hall of the PWTC, however, said that Onmu was celebrating its 62nd Anniversary. That is the trouble when you switch to teaching Maths in BM. The Onmu people no longer know how to count properly. We can forgive them if they missed the date by 1 or 2 years. But 20 and 62 is a very wide miss indeed. Let me repeat that. On 11 May 2008, Onmu celebrated its 20th Anniversary, not its 62nd Anniversary, never mind what the backdrop said. Let us not get confused between the figure 20 and the figure 62. R Tambichik can be forgiven for thinking that an underage girl is actually 18 judging by the size of her boobs, as what he claimed. After all, 18 and 15 is not much difference when using boob sizes as the yardstick. But to mistake an underage girl for a woman of 62 would not be accepted as a valid excuse, whatever the size of her boobs may be. 62 would certainly be 2 far off the mark and Onmu 2 can’t be forgiven for celebrating its 62nd Anniversary when the party is only 20 years old.

3-way Poker Game

Isn't it another interesting 3-way poker game? If so, then like the drowning man, it will not surface again from the turbulent, strong waves of tsunami. Then it is curtain’s down! Then, which party will take its place? ONMU Balu Balu? Or Pakatan Racist?
ONMU Balu Balu will not be so “ balu " because it will be ONMU Balu in clothes balu!
Well, there are so many permutations in this political puzzle. The winner will be the one who will be able to put the pieces together and make it whole. If they do not match, there is NO DEAL.
The first question is whether the DPM, will distance himself from the PM. He is indeed in dilemma; and his last meeting with Tun has compounded an already complex problem. Since he is just one heartbeat away, will he risk it by jumping ship before the East Malaysians do so? If he does, then his credibility will take a blow because he has vowed to stick to PL, come what may. On the other hand, if he does not, then other contenders may be able to solve the jigsaw puzzle; and romp home! It is playing high stakes; and it is a winner-takes-all game of poker!
Assuming he sticks to his guns, then the play is between KL and AI; DPM is out of the game. If PL survives the political earthquake, and still holds his position, the game is over between KL and AI. But the rumblings in the East Malaysian States are getting louder by the day; and the volcanic eruption is about to take place. AI has already dangled some juicy carrots for the East Malaysian MPs--- one DPM, several Ministers of high -profile positions, 20% oil royalty, adherence to the 20-point, Pre-Malaysia Agreement, solving the outstanding illegal immigration issue, among others ---and hence has a good chance of getting their support. Could PL up the stakes? Very unlikely, because he has to take care of his own party members.
Once the earthquake erupts, assuming it does, it is AI who will be the de facto PM, though Mrs. AI, will helm the Federal Government! AI could become a Senator and be the man behind the scenes--- the puppeteer. Will it be in August or just before September 16th--- the expiry date? Nobody knows when the lightning will strike!
Watch out for June and July or maybe August. We need not wait until December for the ONMU elections! By then the wayang will be over; and the curtain will come down!
- Siew Hock Huang

"Once Bitten Twice Shy"

MIC asks Govt for RM300mil to assist Indians,” (Sunday Star, May 18).
The MIC president said that the fund “will be used mostly to help poor Indians.”
He is to meet the Prime Minister next week on the matter.
I don’t support this idea given the dismal track record of Maika Holdings, the investment arm of the MIC.
The Government had given over RM200mil to the MIC via Telekom shares to invest in Maika Holdings at its inception with the objective of uplifting the economy of the Indians.
The Indians were deceived into getting a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
The poor Indians mortgaged their jewellery and livestock to get into the game but what do we see some three decades later? With no dividends forthcoming to service the loans, many of them are bankrupts.
Under pressure, MIC promised to pay back ringgit for ringgit to the shareholders at the beginning of this year but once again it proved to be an empty promise.
MIC members being thoroughly disillusioned by a continuous string of empty promises and bungling by the ineffectual leadership of the party overwhelmingly voted for the Opposition in the recent polls.
Given this pathetic state of affairs, it would be blatantly unwise to give such hard cash to the party leadership however noble the motives maybe.
In the Tamil language there is a saying that such a move is as good as giving a garland of sweet-smelling flowers to a monkey.
What the Indians need is equal opportunities in all fields e.g. education, employment, loans from financial institutions and religious matters.
Aid to the poor irrespective of race or religion should be given in a holistic fashion preferably managed by a select, dedicated and apolitical high-powered team under the Prime Minister’s Department.

DR A. SOORIAN,

A taste of own medicine

Acts of bad faith happened to cover activities prejudicial to their covered operations. The people in the previous government in Selangor staged demonstrations to oppose the setting up of the modern pig farm in the state. And yet they were the very people who made visits to modern pig farms in Germany and the Netherlands and gave thumbs up to all these projects. None of the members from the opposition during that period were ever invited to accompany them on their tours.

"We are the Champions We are the Champions"

Debate turns into a 'piggy' affair

The maiden debate of KA on the motion of thanks for the royal address in Parliament today, turned into a name-calling affair.
KA riled the Opposition MPs when he gave a new definition to the acronym PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat). He called it Projek Khinzir Raksasa (monstrous pig-farming project) -- an apparent reference to the Selangor government's approval of the pig-farming project in Sepang..
Not to be outdone, Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) defined the project as Projek Babi Negara (national pig project) -- a reference to BN.

For Freedom of Information

Have you already signed the Petition for the Freedom of Information Act?

Read about the Petition

Sign the Petition

According to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Report for Q3 2007, Malaysia now has 1,229,000 broadband subscriptions and 3,910,000 dial-up subscriptions representing 4.5% and 14.6% penetration rates respectively. This translates into approximately 5,139,000 internet subscribers!

As of this writing, there is a sad total of 456 persons who have signed the petition?

Does this mean that Malaysians don’t care? I think not. Within a matter of hours, more than RM30,000 was donated by generous Malaysians who cared that dear Raja Petra Kamarudin had been jailed for alleged sedition.

So why have so few signed the petition? I suspect it’s because they don’t know about it. Test it yourself. Turn around and ask the person next to you… “Have you signed the Petition for Freedom of Information?”. A likely response could well be, “Huh? What?”.

Well, what can you do about it? Make it a personal mission to pass the word around. Post in your blog. Send out e-mail. Send out SMS. Call them on their office or home phones. Tell people personally.

If each person can reach 10 persons, get them to sign the petition, and reach out similarly to another 10 persons, the outreach will quickly multiply. Within a week, we should be able to hit the first target of 10,000 signatures.

So why are you still here? Get going.

Ah Beng - NEW STUFF

Ah Beng bought a new mobile. He sent a message to everyone from his Phone Book & said,

"My Mobile No. Has changed. Earlier it was Nokia 3310. Now it is 6610"

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Ah Beng : I am a Proud, coz my son is in Medical College.

Friend: Really, what is he studying.

Ah Beng: No, he is not studying, they are Studying him.

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Ah Beng : Doctor, in my dreams, I play football every night.

DR: Take this tablet, you will be ok.

Ah Beng : Can I take tomorrow, tonight is final game.

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Ah Beng : If I die, will u remarry?

Wife: No! I'll stay with my sister. But if I die will u remarry?

Ah Beng : No, I'll also stay with your sister.

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Ah Beng : People consider me as a "GOD"

Wife: How do you know??

Ah Beng : When I went to the Park today, everybody said,Oh GOD! U have come again.

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Ah Beng complained to the police: "Sir, all items are missing, except the TV in my house".

Police: "How the thief did not take TV?"

Ah Beng : "I was watching TV news..."

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Ah Beng comes back 2 his car & find a note saying: "Parking Fine"

He Writes a note and sticks it to a pole: "Thanks for complement."

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How do you recognize Ah Beng in School?

He is the one who erases the notes from the book when the teacher erases the board.

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Once Ah Beng was walking he had a glove on one hand and not on other. So the man asked him why he did so. He replied that the weather forecast announced that on one hand it would be cold and on the other hand it would be hot.

==================================================

Ah Beng in a bar and his cellular phone rings. He picks it up and Says:

"Hello, how did you know I was here?"

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Ah Beng : Why are all these people running?

Man - This is a race, the winner will get the cup Ah Beng - If only the winner will get the cup, why others running?

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Teacher: "I killed a person" convert this sentence into future tense

Ah Beng : The future tense is "u will go to jail"

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Ah Beng told his servant: "Go and water the plants!"

Servant: "It's already raining."

Ah Beng : "So what? Take an umbrella and go."

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A man asked Ah Beng why Ahmad Badawi goes walking in the Evening and not in the morning Ah Beng replied: Ahmad Badawi is PM not AM

Survival of The Sickest - Must Read

• Cancer cells require iron to grow, so the body attempts to limit its availability.
• Mother's milk contains lactoferrin - a chelating protein that binds with iron and prevents bacteria from feeding on it.
• Viking men may have offset the negative effects of hemochromatosis because their warrior culture resulted in frequent blood loss.
• Diabetes may have helped European ancestors survive the sudden cold of the Younger Dryas.
• When we are exposed to the right kind of sunlight, our skin converts cholesterol to vitamin D.
• Ultraviolet light detroys folic acid in the body, the darker your skin, the less ultraviolet light you absorb.
• People of African descent have darker skin and are more likely to have a gene that causes them to produce greater amount of cholesterol.
• People of Northern European descents have pales skin and are much more likely to have iron loading and predisposition for Type 1 diabetes.
• People of Asian descent are much more likely to be unable to process alcohol efficiently.
• The current mainstream consensus is that modern humans evolved in Africa around 250,000 years ago.
• In Africa, where the heat was an evolutionary argument against denser body hair, people are prone to sickle-cell anemia, which, as we'll discuss, offers some protection from malaria.
• High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a particularly insidious disease - it's responsible for as much as 25 percent of end stage kidney failure, but it usually has no noticeable symptoms; that's why it's often called the "silent killer."
• Organic plants produce more natural toxic than non-organic plants. Eat your vegetables, your vegetables can kill you.
• Women infected with T.gondii spend more money on clothes and are consistently rated as being more attractive than women without the infection.
• The diarrhea caused by cholera isn't just a symptom - it's a transmission channel. It's how the disease makes it into the water supply and ensures its ability to find new hosts.
• At its most basic, cance is uncontrolled cell growth caused by a mutation in the gene that is supposed to control the growth of the cancerous cells.
• Most scientists don't consider viruses to be "alive", because they can't reproduce or metabolize on their own.
• There are all 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 viruses in the world's oceans. Over the few millions of years, perhaps we've given them the ride of their life and, in return, they've given us the chance to borrow some code from their huge genetic library.
• Researchs have certainly noted that many miscarried fetuses have genetic abnormalities
• Through a combination of epigenetic effects, various genes are turned on and off.
• Pups that were gently licked by their mothers grew into confident rat babies that were relatively relaxed and could handle stressful situations. But rats that were ignored by their mothers grew to be nervous wrecks.
• Children whose parents are overly stressed are more prone to depression and have less self-controlled. Children whose parents are relaxed and available tend to be happier and healthier.
• When cancer cells are successful, it's usually with the help of telomerase. Without telomerase, cancer cells woudl die out after dividing fifty to sixty times, or perhaps a little longer. Many scientists believe cancer prevention is the "reason" cells have evolved with a limit on the number of times they can reprduce.

Oxford graduate under fire

Lim earlier chastised KA who questioned him on the repetition of Raja Petra's use of the word "hell".
"Do you not agree that the only one to determine whether a person will go to heaven or hell is God and not for us to determine," asked KA.
Lim, however, thundered back: "We are not talking of religion! This is an expression that those who murdered Altantuya should be punished to the full extent of the law! It's not about going to heaven or hell.
"If even this one cannot understand, what is the point of graduating from Oxford? This is a disgrace to the university," he said,
upon which the whole house again descended into chaos as both sides went back to shouting at each other.