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Preschool teachers, childminders to have better qualifications Posted: 17 Aug 2011 11:09 PM PDT Preschool teachers, childminders to have better qualifications KUALA LUMPUR: Preschool teachers and childminders in the country will need to have better qualifications in future, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. He said the Education Ministry was in the process of drawing up mechanisms and requirements that would enable the teachers and minders to gain higher qualification in the near future. Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister, said this was necessary because although the government had carried out various training programmes to raise the skills of these teachers and childminders, they were still inadequate to produce preschool teachers of world standard. "The more knowledge that the teachers have, the more skilled will they be, and their functions as educators in the children's formative and criticial years will be more effective in the children's development," he said when launching the ECCE - Early Childcare and Education Council, here today. Citing an example, he said Russia had long given recognition to preschool education and their teaching manpower had doctorate qualifications or at least a masters degree. - BERNAMA Air your comment on this issue: Preschool teachers, childminders to have better qualifications Log in with your Facebook account or use the form below to comment. New Straits Times reserves the right not to publish offensive or abusive comments and those of hate speech, harassment, commercial promos and invasion of privacy. Your IP will be logged and may be used to prevent further submission.The views expressed here are that of the members of the public and unless specifically stated are not those of NST. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search.

DPM wants public perception issue tackled effectively Posted: 17 Aug 2011 10:33 PM PDT DPM wants public perception issue tackled effectively KUALA LUMPUR: The Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) need to tackle the issue on public perception of the force, particularly those entrusted with the task of enforcement, effectively, said Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. The Deputy Prime Minister said the police were not exempted from the risk of public perception which could have an adverse or positive impact on relations and cooperation between the community and members of the force. "It cannot be denied that among the major challenges faced by the RMP currently concerned the public perception towards corruption and violence against detainees by members of the force. "The government is confident that in line with continuous efforts by the police to strengthen the culture of integrity and improved governance besides creative communication on issues concerning the people at various levels, the issues on perception that have been raised can be tackled effectively," he said at the ceremony to show appreciation to the Royal Malaysia Police at the Kuala Lumpur RMP College in Cheras, today. Also present were Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein and Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Khalid Abu Bakar. Muhyiddin said the government had carried out periodical evaluation on public perception towards the police through the questionnare "Raising Public Satisfaction on RMP Performance". The latest survey showed that 55 per cent of the people were satisfied with the performance of the RMP, a positive increase, compared with 35 per cent in 2009 when the questionnaire was first distributed, he said. He said although there was a decline in the crime index, public perception must be improved further so that they would be confident that whatever the police did had a positive impact in maintaining security. Between January and June this year, the country's crime index dropped by 9.6 per cent to 8,537 cases while street crime dropped 41.6 per cent to 11,299 cases. -- BERNAMA Air your comment on this issue: DPM wants public perception issue tackled effectively Log in with your Facebook account or use the form below to comment. New Straits Times reserves the right not to publish offensive or abusive comments and those of hate speech, harassment, commercial promos and invasion of privacy. Your IP will be logged and may be used to prevent further submission.The views expressed here are that of the members of the public and unless specifically stated are not those of NST. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search.

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Esso slumps on San Miguel deal Posted: 17 Aug 2011 06:02 PM PDT Esso Malaysia Bhd plunged in Kuala Lumpur trading, headed for a record drop after San Miguel Corp agreed to buy Exxon Mobil Corp's 65 per cent stake in the Malaysian company at a discount. The stock tumbled 18 per cent to RM4.05 at 9:02 a.m. local time. San Miguel bought the stake at RM3.50 per share, a 29 per cent discount to Esso Malaysia's closing price of RM4.95 yesterday. Esso gained 46 per cent this year. -- Bloomberg Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search.

Mah Sing jumps on 48pc H1 earnings rise Posted: 17 Aug 2011 06:32 PM PDT Mah Sing Group Bhd, a Malaysian developer, rose in Kuala Lumpur trading after OSK Research Sdn Bhd said its first-half earnings beat estimates. The stock climbed 1.6 per cent to RM2.49 at 9:26 a.m. local time after the company yesterday announced a 48 per cent increase in second-quarter profit to RM43.1 million. OSK said in a report today that it raised its full-year 2011 earnings forecast by 13.2 per cent. -- Bloomberg Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search.

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Rivalry brings out the best in Lee, Lin Dan Posted: 17 Aug 2011 06:06 PM PDT 2011/08/18 By K.M. Boopathy boopathy@nst.com.my China's Lin Dan (right) is the only player capable of beating Lee Chong Wei. THEY are best of friends off court but Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan of China hate to lose to each other and this has taken their rivalry to another level. Lin Dan's uncanny ability to peak effortlessly at major events, said national singles coach Tey Seu Bock, has helped him keep ahead of Chong Wei for the last six years. This year's wins in the World Championships in London on Sunday and the Korea Open -- which offers the highest prize money of US$90,000 (RM267,885) on the badminton circuit -- have proved Lin Dan's pedigree despite him suffering an alarming drop in form in other events. However, Seu Bock said Chong Wei, for his part, has become very consistent by becoming the only player to have reached all the finals -- eight so far -- on the international stage and winning six of them. "Lin Dan has been suffering uncharacteristic defeats to several players since the 2008 Olympics but when it comes to a major, he makes an extra effort to deny Chong Wei. "In fact, Chong Wei also hates losing to Lin Dan but the latter's special gift to be able to peak on the big occasion gives him the edge," said Seu Bock. "Their rivalry has been intense for the last six years but it has been very close over the last two. Currently,Lin Dan is the only player capable of beating Chong Wei but that is not going to happen too often as their rivalry suggests. "This is due to Chong Wei's improvement and maturity as a player. In fact, since losing to Taufik Hidayat (of Indnonesia) in the last World Championships, he has lost only twice (to Lin Dan) in 13 tournaments. "Lin Dan has inflicted enough disappointments (on Chong Wei) and I am optimistic of seeing a more confident Chong Wei giving his arch rival a taste of his own medicine in coming meetings. "We have to put our objectives in perspective and the biggest challenge of all, the Olympics, is a year away and Chong Wei will be pushing even harder and take his game up another notch. "Chong Wei may have lost the early battles but I hope he will be victorious in the London Olympics and it will be good if Lin Dan is on the receiving end." The current record is unflattering for Chong Wei who has won only eight while Lin Dan has snatched 17 victories over the Malaysian. The China ace has already started the build-up to the Olympics by announcing his desire to earn back-to-back gold in London. Chong Wei is also aiming for the same and a cracking finale is expected if both shuttlers remain on course. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search.

Hearts seek to catch Spurs cold Posted: 17 Aug 2011 05:34 PM PDT PARIS: Hearts are one of Scotland's most historic clubs but have had few reasons to celebrate anything in recent times so they will be hoping for a much-needed boost today when they host English Premier League giants Spurs in a Europa League playoff first leg clash. The prize for the winners of the two-legged 32 matches will be a place in the group stages and Hearts are sorely in need of a good news story following a turbulent start to the season both on and off the pitch. Unpredictable Lithuanian owner Vladimir Romanov has already sacked one manager in the shape of the popular Jim Jefferies -- who guided them to the 1998 Scottish Cup trophy in his first spell -- and replaced him with Portuguese Sergio Paulo because he wanted a coach who knew how to win in Europe. Paulo's coaching career, like his playing one, is patchy at best but the 43-year-old at least takes the four-time champions -- whose last trophy was the 2006 Scottish Cup -- into the tough assignment on the back of their first league win since March, a 3-0 victory over hapless Aberdeen. Paulo for his part is not concerned by the fact Spurs are the hot favourites and are keen on showing their place in the last eight of last season's Champions League was the precursor of great achievements on the continental stage. "I am not worried," Paulo told the club's website. "Our players know that they are facing a very good team, but if our effort is good and our focus is good then there is no reason why we can't win." Hearts at least have the advantage that they are already well into their season whilst Spurs have yet to kick a ball in anger. Spurs insist that they are totally focused and Welsh star Gareth Bale says that they have also learnt from last season's Champions League play-off against Swiss side Young Boys which almost saw them go out after they conceded three goals early in the first leg before recovering to score two away goals -- and won the second leg 4-0. "You learn from experiences like that and they stand you in good stead," he told his club website. "We know what to expect from Hearts, we know they will probably come at us from the start, but we will also be raring to go. "They'll be just as determined to qualify and we'll need to start well." Scottish football fans nerves will be jangling as both their Glasgow giants Celtic and Rangers are also in action -- they have no-one in the Champions League after Rangers crashed out in the qualifying round. They will want to pull off good results in the first leg and ease the possibility of a new historic low for Scottish football as if all three go out it will leave Scotland without a representative in the group stages of both European competitions. Like the Glasgow duo the two Roman clubs also make their first appearance in this season's competition but both Lazio and AS Roma appear to have simple tasks against Macedonian side Rabotnicki and Slovakian outfit Slovan Bratislava respectively. -- AFP Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search.

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WAY OF THE DRAGON Posted: 16 Aug 2011 09:28 AM PDT 2011/08/16 By Sim Bak Heng Although the lion dance is more popular than the dragon dance, the latter requires more in terms of coordination, skill and stamina UNDENIABLY, lion dance is more popular than dragon dance, although both are equally appealing and unique in style and performance. While only two dancers are needed for a lion dance, it is more complicated for a dragon dance performance, which usually involves about 10 dancers. Lion dance is more acrobatic, especially when poles are planted on stage and dancers have to hop from pole to pole in breathtaking and spectacular energetic movements. On the other hand, a dragon dance is done more often at ground-level, but it is not as simple as it seems. Without any synchronisation, the dragon body can be stepped upon, twisted or have dancers fall down. This is especially so in the case of a nocturnal dragon dance when only ultraviolet light is switched on during the course of the performance. The Persatuan Tarian Naga Muar at Jalan Sungai Abong is one of the oldest dragon dance troupes in Johor. Celebrating its 58th anniversary this year, the association has been training some 500 dancers since it was founded. Recruitment is entirely based on interest, as well as how skilful one is in dance. Ng Per Yuean, 27, the association's coach, said not all recruits are for dragon dance. Those who are more inclined to music will play the drums and cymbals. "Those involved in dragon dancing need a lot of strength as the performance lasts for about 10 minutes. The one who manoeuvres the dragon's head has to be strong as the head itself could weigh as much as 2.5kg. "Next, the dancers need to be able to dance and swing the sticks attached to the dragon body in synchronisation," he said. Ng began his interest in dragon dancing when he was 13. He has been coaching for the last two years. In any competition, points are given based on the costume, dragon shape, musical performance, synchronisation and degree of difficulty of the dance. The last two criteria are more challenging as points are easily lost where these aspects are concerned. Ng said two of the common "accidents" in dragon dancing were dancers falling down or when the dragon body gets knotted. Another common mistake is when dancers step on the dragon body when they are rolling about. "In nocturnal dragon dancing, the dancers can only see the dragon but not the other troupe members. The chances of dancers knocking into each other and the dragon body knotting are rather high," he said. The association currently has 40 members aged from 10 to 25, comprising students and workers who practise three nights a week, and every night when preparing for a competition. It has won six gold medals thus far and has performed in Hong Kong, Macau and China. Another outstanding troupe is from the Muar Chinese Boxing Fellowship in Jalan Daud. The fellowship started in 1956 to provide a platform for boxing enthusiasts and those of the distinct Hokkien lion dance. It was from 1991 that the association went into full swing in dragon dancing. Coach Kaw Yew Boon, 43, has been coaching for the past six years. "I joined the troupe in 1991 and my job was to hold the dragon pearl. My role is important as the movement of the whole dragon follows the pearl that I hold. "Discipline is needed in dragon dance. We are particular about the attendance for rehearsal and practice," he said. The troupe has grabbed four gold medals in the past 20 years. Dragon dance performances are highly sought after during Chinese New Year, temple celebrations and opening ceremonies of companies. Most of the dragons are bought from China or Johor Baru, with them costing up to RM7,000 each. Due to wear and tear, the life span of each dragon is about a year. Troupes survive on revenue from performances and sponsorships. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search.

43 caught for not fasting Posted: 16 Aug 2011 08:18 AM PDT TWO retired civil servants were among 43 individuals nabbed by the Johor Religious Department (JAJ) for eating in public during the fasting month. Deputy chief enforcement director Mohd Zambari Kambari, said both the retired men were detained at a restaurant in Johor Baru when JAJ officers made their rounds for Ops Ramadan. "They were caught in the act. If found guilty, they can be fined a maximum of RM1,000," said Zambari. He said the operations, which ended on the 10th day of Ramadan, nabbed the individuals aged between 20 and 50 in several places in the district. He said most of those detained were in industrial areas and a hawker was also detained for serving food to Muslim men during the fasting period. Ops Ramadan involved 45 enforcement personnel. Zambari advised the Muslims, especially those residing in Johor, to abide by the law during the fasting month. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search.

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Malaysian Armed Forces capable of safeguarding national assets Posted: 16 Aug 2011 10:21 PM PDT LABUAN: The strength of the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF)in safeguarding the national assets, particularly oil and gas, in Malaysian waters is at an optimum level. This is due to advanced technology and machinery used, besides capable manpower to safeguard the trillions of ringgit worth of oil and gas within the country's waters in the South China Sea. Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Dr Abd Latiff Ahmad said the more than 200 oil rigs located offshore were being safely guarded. "The oil rigs producing oil and gas and generating revenue amounting to trillions of ringgit for the country must be fully guarded, and this is thanks to technology and the strength of our armed forces. Abdul Latiff said this after joining the Sea Patrol Operation off Labuan and Sabah waters and Ramadan "sahur" with members of the Royal Malaysian Navy onboard KD Pahang on Wednesday. "The security level of Malaysian waters is at an optimal level and our armed forces are well prepared for any challenges. As such, we don't see the need for additional recruitment of manpower, as our waters are more secured now," he said. -- BERNAMA Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search.

Najib chooses official attire for 54th Merdeka celebration Posted: 16 Aug 2011 08:55 PM PDT PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Razak today chose the official attire for the country's 54th Independence Day celebration with has been postponed to Sept 16, which is also Malaysia Day. The separate attire for men and women were chosen from three designs each created by the Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation, which were showed off by models to the prime minister. Also present were Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, several other cabinet ministers and Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan. Rais later told reporters that the prime minister was attracted to all the designs displayed which combined the basic national colours of red, white and blue but had to chose the ones which would really suit the auspicious occasion this year. He hoped the attire to be won by the cabinet ministers for this Merdeka celebration would attract the interest of the public to purchase them after Sept 16. -- BERNAMA Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search.

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40pc of Kelantan bazaar food contaminated Posted: 16 Aug 2011 06:54 PM PDT 2011/08/17 By Nik Imran Abdullah, Elvina Fernandez and Atiqa Hazellah news@nst.com.my Traders selling sugarcane drinks must keep the sugarcanes in storage containers and not leave them lying on the ground. — NST picture by Aizuddin Saad KOTA BARU: The state Health Department said 40 per cent of food in Ramadan bazaars are contaminated with bacteria that cause food poisoning. Deputy director Dr Wan Mansor Hamzah said it had found e.coli, coliform, staphylococcus and bacillus in kuih and other food samples taken from bazaars when it began monitoring them at the start of Ramadan. He said the contamination had reached a level that could trigger food poisoning. "The contamination is a sign of food handlers' poor personal hygiene," he said yesterday It was reported that 15 food poisoning cases, involving 550 people, had been reported nationwide since the start of Ramadan. Dr Wan Mansor said the bacteria could be transferred to food through dirty cooking utensils and unhygienic surroundings where the food was prepared and sold. However, he said, there were no food poisoning cases that could be linked to eating contaminated food from hawker stalls. "If we can establish that dirty food caused food poisoning in consumers, we can take food handlers to court." He said health officers would continue advising food handlers and hawkers of the need to maintain a high standard of hyg iene. Director-general of Health Datuk Dr Hasan Abdul Rahman urged traders to be hy - gienic when preparing food and drinks. In preparing sugarcane drinks, he said, traders should wash sugarcanes first, but most did not do this. "Placing sugarcanes on the ground is not a good practice, unless traders clean them first before processing them," Dr Hasan told the New Straits Times yesterday. He said traders should keep sugarcanes in a storage container and not leave them in the open as they might attract flies and other pests. He added that district health officers would advise traders on food safety and hyg iene. "And, if required by local authorities, our officers will join their teams during inspections and enforcement checks." Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search.

RM200m polls plan Posted: 16 Aug 2011 06:50 PM PDT 2011/08/17 By Farrah Naz Karim farrah@nst.com.my Company proposes biometric system to Election Commission PUTRAJAYA: A company is proposing a RM200 million biometric system for use in the general election to the Election Commission. However, several parties, including government agencies, are strongly resisting the proposal, which the commission is studying. The New Straits Times learnt that the company would provide the commission with 25,000 Netbooks and 25,000 Dermalog fingerprint devices. It will also provide a centralised back-end system for biometric verification and voting system with workflows. The company is offering to convert fingerprint images to its Dermalog biometric template. It will provide the commission with 14 million citizens' records containing fingerprint images, portraits and demographic data, which it intends to download from the National Registration Department's database. However, the department, which is the custodian of the personal records of Malaysians, is averse to this plan. NRD said conversions to the Dermalog template would mean a drop in quality when compared with the quality of the Morpho template used in its d at a b a s e . It insisted that EC use the Morpho template as it matched the template for MyKad. Industry sources said the devices and system from the company would not be able to verify templates or minutiae (branching points of fingerprint ridge lines) in MyKad, despite being able to read MyKad information. It is learnt that another company is hoping to be picked for the project and had in April quoted EC a price of RM300 million. However, it recently revised this to RM160 million. It is also understood that a third company had submitted a proposal, saying its system would cost less than a quarter of the cost quoted by other companies. It offered 2,500 Netbooks and readers. This company said its devices could read all minutiae verification of the Morpho template in MyKad. A source said: "The EC workflow is a proven system and the introduction of biometrics is only for identification pur poses." The source said the government could save cost by allowing EC to use devices supplied for the scrapped petrol subsidy-control mechanism. The third company said it would ensure the use of these devices was made possible. The devices, all 6,000 units with a display terminal, had not been used since the petrol subsidy schemewas scrapped. The company is on the same wavelength with NRD on MyKad being the source for identification. It said people with defective MyKad chips would have to change them before the general election. NRD intends to replace its MyKad chips with higher quality ones from Januar y. NRD sources expressed concern about a private company being allowed to extract personal data. They said even in cases where the courts subpoenaed details of citizens, NRD officials would take the citizens' documents to the courts to protect the information. A NRD spokesman said it was still studying all the proposals. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search.

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