Mental Retardation

Mental retardation is a term used when a person has certain limitations in mental functioning and in skills such as communicating, taking care of him or herself, and social skills. These limitations will cause a child to learn and develop more slowly than a typical child. Children with mental retardation may take longer to learn to speak, walk, and take care of their personal needs such as dressing or eating. They are likely to have trouble learning in school. They will learn, but it will take them longer. There may be some things they cannot learn. (National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities)

I saw this retarded boy in front of a grocery shop nearby my house.

Now you know what is mental retardation. It affects 3% of the population. (The Arc, 2001) So what's the cause? It can be broadly classified into 3 classes, namely prenatal, perinatal and postnatal.

PRENATAL

• Chromosomal disorders
• Gene defects
• Exposure to toxins during pregnancy

PERINATAL

• Prematurity conditions
• Infections

POSTNATAL

• Infections
• Lead poisoning
• Metabolic disorder
• Head trauma
  

Approximately 50% of the children with mild mental retardation will have no cause identified. However, children with severe mental retardation are much likely to have a cause found. Testing might include chromosomal analysis such as Down Syndrome test and Fragile X Syndrome. More intensive test such as MRI can also be done, including psychological test to evaluate their IQ. (http://www.keepkidshealthy.com)

Children with mental disabilities can do well in school, but they need individualized help. Special-need schools are set up for eligible children of schooling age. Other than that, I've found a few good website dedicated in supporting Malaysians with disabilities. I suppose one or more of this care centres are set up in every states in Malaysia.

PERSATUAN PENJAGAAN KANAK-KANAK TERENCAT AKAL JOHOR BAHRU

Ministry of Education's Sekolah Kanak-kanak Terencat Akal

Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development

Some other useful links/articles :

Seksual di Kalangan Kanak-Kanak dan Orang Dewasa Terencat Akal

Registration Form for Disabled Person

Printscreen

Call me ignorant, call me outdated. Hahahaha! Everyone would notice the McDonald's advertisement on television earlier than me. Tell you what, I only notice it yesterday night while watching some local Chinese drama on NTV7. It started with an "ah pek" bringing home some take-aways from McDonalds. He started to eat them while watching Euro2008 in the wee hours. Then her mum comes out and started to nag him, suggesting that no girl will ever stick to him if he continues his "gila bola" frenzy.

All of a sudden, the TV went off and a frustrated him sped off to the nearest McDonald's outlet in a yellow vintage Volkswagen Beetle.

(http://jalopnik.com/assets/resources/2007/09/64_Beetle_Frt_LH_Qtr_Low.jpg)

He was so into the game that he actually blocked the view of a girl sitting there alone. "Nice view", she uttered. Feeling sorry, he asked "Are you a kaki bola too?" to a quick answer of "Yeah, that's what my mom call me."

Recalling his mom's words, he asked "Would you run away if I sit next to you?"

"I won't go anywhere..."


My mom nagged me few days back for staying up until 5.00 AM watching Euro 2008. Two days back over the phone, she said "Girls won't stick to him" to one of her friends. She was actually referring to me. Damnit, I like this advert~!

Izaty was one of my classmates during primary school. It was only recently that I managed to catch up with her. I'm glad she remembered me vividly; everything from how naughty am I during primary school to my examination results. Best part is, she remembered what I frequently eat during recess hours!

Modus Vivendi

Often Malaysia is described as a plural society, composed of 3 large ethnic groups, Malays, Chinese and Indian. Since the formation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, politics in Malaysia have been dominated by UMNO which is the backbone of the Coalition government. Thus the government pursued what may be term as "pro-Malay" policies. In the same time, Malaysia has come up with its own plan to resolve problems of inequality and ethnic difference. National Economic Policy (NEP) has been in place since 1971 and certain quarters accused it to have marginalize the minority Chinese and Indians to the status of second class citizens.

Post 8th March have seen political tsunami all over Malaysia. Ignoring BN's rhetoric that "A vote for DAP is a vote for PAS", voters put 82 Opposition MPs into Parliament. Subsequently, five states fell to Opposition, which then formed Pakatan Rakyat and left Barisan Coalition stunned. In Perak, DAP-PKR-PAS coalition formed the state goverment with majority less than 5 seats. DAP having secured all its seat contested in Penang, too formed the Penang state governments in alliance with PKR and PAS. On the other hand, PKR formed the Selangor government with Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim as the Mentri Besar. Kelantan remains with PAS while the newly captured Kedah state have a PAS Mentri Besar, Azizan Abdul Razak.

I came across a new term "kafir harbi" while browsing through some group discussion, which I shall keep the sensitive details for myself.

"Islam telah membagi orang kafir menjadi dua macam, yaitu kafir harbi dan kafir zimmi. Kafir harbi adalah kafir yang sedang terlibat konflik dengan umat Islam sedangkan kafir zimmi adalah kaifr yang terikat perjanjian damai dengan umat Islam." (http://www.syariahonline.com/new_index.php/id/7/cn/7655)

"God welcomes you to be kind those who have not made war against you on account of [your] religion, and have not driven you forth from your homes, that you show them kindness (birr) and deal with them justly; surely God loves the doers of justice. God only forbids you respecting those who made war upon you on account of [your] religion, and drove you forth from your homes and backed up [others] in your expulsion, that you make friends with them, and whoever makes friends with them, these are the unjust." (Quran 60:8)

Some Islamic scholars condemn PAS for working together hand-in-hand with DAP, and PKR which they call "kafir harbi". However, majority lauded the move to form Pakatan Rakyat, calling it a step towards a united Malaysian. It is well known that PAS aims to establish an Islamic country and that of DAP, they wish to be the protector of minority rights and opposed the establishment of Islamic country strongly. PKR is stuck in the middle between two extremes, balancing the balls to keep the alliance intact.

To overcome differences, often we will use the principles of consensus. We seek general round-table agreement to exercise follow-up actions from the decision made. Because achieving consensus require serious and respectful treatment from every group member, we strive on values in common rather stressing on the difference between the beliefs in multicultural Malaysia.

Let's put the heavy issue aside. We need to relax.

On air we have M.A.F.U - Here in My Home.

Reasons I Love Bidor

It was a hot summer afternoon that I couldn't stand the heat anymore. My first thought was to take a cold bath, but how about a cold drip at Lubok Degung?

Not a bad idea that few of my friends shared my "vision" to swim there. Necessary equipments: None. We brought along 10 packs of Sunsilk introductory shampoo packet for hair wash. Why 10 packets? We love to share. We will generously throw a packet or two to acquaintances interested in joining us. Anyway, it cost us only a mere 40 cents per packet.

Gas up the motorbike tank and we are ready to go. Lubok Degung is one of the top reasons why I love Bidor so much. If I cite friends and family as my top reason, Lubok Degung will be the next.

On how to go to this waterfall:

1. At PLUS Highway, turn into Bidor exit.
2. Turn right at traffic light intersection, immediately after Bidor exit toll. (Notice Kari Kepala Ikan Salim at your right hand side.)
3. Go straight and turn into Jalan Paku.
4. You will pass by Chinese cemetery on your right hand side at Jalan Paku. On the opposite side, you will see housing estates.
5. Next you will pass over an overhead bridge across PLUS Highway.
6. All the way deep into Orang Asli settlements.

Don't worry if you got lost. Orang Asli here is very friendly and they will be more than happy to lead you the way to Lubok Degung.

However, I will not bring friends who don't grow up in Bidor to this waterfall. It's too dangerous that according to the locals and Orang Asli, drown victims are those who come from nearby town. Some of the victims are from as far as Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Well, if you don't believe in superstitions, then believe in statistics from the old wise men residing in Bidor.

To offer my explaination, I think swimmers from Bidor are more familiar of the place. They know each and every corner which is dangerous and take extra precautions.

Some arrogant swimmers jumped from the bridge into the water and hit some boulders in the water.

Don't spoil the fun just yet, because we still have Sungai Klah Hot Springs Resorts, 25 minutes driving from Bidor town.

Men & Boys

Men know what they will do in 5 years from now
Boys don’t even know what they will be doing tonight

Men know how to make a woman relax
Boys know how to make a woman laugh

Men make a lot of dough before they turn 30
Boys make some stupid mistakes

Men insist that they believe in women’s lib, but still insist that they pay the bill, carry the suitcase and open the door for you
Boys think they believe in women’s lib, cause they let you pay the bill, carry the suitcase and open the door yourself.

Men read Dostojewski, watch CNN & play golf
Boys read the instructions for their PlayStation, watch the Simpsons and play football with the guys

Men want babies
Boys want babes

Men have the phone number of their doctor, their tailor and their financial advisor, in their address book.
Boys don’t have an address book. They just visit the three most important persons in their life (best buddy, mechanic and bartender) as often as possible.

Men don’t say a word when they are sitting next to a woman in a car
Boys first explain to a woman what makes the world go round and then.. how to park

Men can manage to get you an apartment with an awesome view
Boys help you move

Men wear suits, ties and clean shirts
Boys wear jeans and a shirt with their favorite team logo

Men are experts when it comes to erogenous zones of women
Boys are experts with their own erogenous zones

Men will bring flowers to their mothers
Boys will bring them their dirty laundry

Men order up & down the wine list in an exclusive restaurant
Boys buy a case of beer at the gas station

Men are afraid to turn into their Dad
Boys are afraid to turn into men

Men are looking in their folders for their life insurance papers
Boys are looking for adventures

Men know how much money they have in their accounts
Boys don’t even want to know how much money they owe everybody

Men finish off a relationship by shaking hands, thanking you for the good time and parting with the words “We can stay friends”
Boys just don’t call anymore

Happy Birthday to Keefoo and Ah Pooi

We took this picture at UTAR Walk. Happy birthday to Keefoo (18th June 1986) and Ah Pooi (19th June 1989) From left : JJ "Jiun Gio" Lin, Jiun Yeong, Jen-win, myself, Ming Sum (b-day gal not in pic)

The night was wonderful. Thank you Ming Sum, Jen-win and Jiun Gio for all 3 buckets of Heineken & Guinness.

Thank you all my friends for the birthday wish. I love you all~ To Joanna, you won't forget my birthday every year. Thank you and "cayang" you so so much! Specially to Chia Ping : Jangan nakal-nakal~!

Snooker

Familiar with the name Jimmy White, Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins and our very own Sam Chong?

Snooker is played on a rectangular snooker table, typically 1.8m x 3.6 m. You can see 6 holes, called pockets and the aim of every player is to successfully cue the correct ball into the pockets. A game quite similar to snooker is pool, but however the snooker balls are smaller in size.

Arrangement of balls on a snooker table.

There are 15 reds, 6 colors and 1 white cue ball. According of precedence and point, the colors are yellow (2), green (3), brown (4), blue (5), pink (6) and black (7). You gain 1 point if you pot in a red ball. Funny thing is, yellow ball is nicknamed "Banana" while black is called "Black Wood". Both are in Cantonese, a dialect which I master well compared to Hokkien & Mandarin.

As for myself, I enjoy a game of snooker fortnightly with pals. People actually say that I am "noisy" while playing, making a lot of funny remarks to make the game livelier. Anyway I just want to enjoy the companionship with so many friends around!

I was playing at the snooker centre situated next to UTP campus, Tronoh.

I remember this too well; I potted the red into the middle pocket. My opponent claimed I was using some kind of black magic.

Back to hometown, my regular partner for a game is Jen-win. He is a good player; I should say no that one wanted(dared) to play with him for an open "you-lose-you-pay" game. He indeed look like a typical Chinese bad boy with gold color hair, but I assure you, he is no bad boy.

Unfortunately, people do stereotype snooker as a game only bad boys play. I wish to correct the mindset that snooker is a healthy sport, being played all around the globe. Playing snooker itself doesn't guarantee a boy will grow up becoming a school drop-out. It all boils down to the boy himself. He can always be influenced outside the snooker centre.

But I tell you, snooker will only be a healthy sports if you minus the second-hand smoke inhaled in, for 2 long hours. And of course, I lose to Jen-win almost all the time.

Value for Money

I noticed an advert put up by I-Gate, offering digital cameras at reduced price. I needed one now, so I quickly browse through Canon website to check out the specifications of the cameras advertised.

All 10 models shortlisted to 2, Ixus 80 IS and Powershot A580. Being in the different class, both of them are not comparable. I was thinking hard which one I should buy.

I've been eyeing this Canon IXUS 80 IS for some time.

The price tag, RM 999.00 with free gifts of SD card, camera pouch, a Canon umbrella etc. Considering 8.0 MP slim point-and-shoot, this price tag is quite affordable. This camera is so small that I can quickly slip it into my jeans pocket without feeling any bulge. (It's slimmer than Nokia 5300) Love it, but...

When Canon A580 comes into action, the price tag of RM699.00 after reduction will make you feel ; "Ahh this is a better buy. Similar capability, 8.0 MP with 4.0 x optical zoom"

The RM 699.00 price tag beats all other criterias

Finally, I heeded my father's advice and opt for Powershot A580. IXUS 80 IS will enter my wish-list, at least, until I enter working life in 6 months time. I put up this post, hoping Santa will notice my blog and grant my wish for this coming Christmas.

p/s : To Ah Pa, Happy Father's Day. And to my friend that has just become father, "Smile..it's your day!"

Penang + Sungai Petani

It was 6th June. Exam's done. FYP seminar's done. All done. I am ready to enjoy my long semester break which is 7 weeks long. This time, I would not return home immediately, instead I went off to Penang and Sungai Petani.

Beh was the wonderful driver for the day, except he shot up to 130km/hr nearby Taiping PLUS Highway. I dared not to sleep, trying hard to keep my eyes open until I saw Penang Bridge. Thanks to slow moving traffic at Penang Bridge, I was relieved!

After 22 years of living in Perak, finally I am in Penang. (I've been to all states in Malaysia, except Sarawak and Penang)

Beh and I went further up the hill at Kek Lok Si temple that we stumbled upon a "KAWASAN LARANGAN" signboard. According to the locals, the place is a water catchment dam. There is a small complex nearby, which I think is a small resort. I took a photo of myself there with the resort as backdrop.

Next destination is Prangin Mall where Shern Shiou, Wei Zhu and Joshua will be waiting for me and Beh there. A quick comparison of mall in Ipoh and Penang : Pretty girls are noticeable everywhere. They don't hide indoors compared to Ipoh girls.

We had dinner at hawker stall serving BKT. I had my first encounter ordering food in Hokkien, a dialect which I am only a master in its foul language. Luckily I have 3 Hokkien friends with me that recommends me "O Teh", a type of herbal tea what I initially thought is "Teh O'Ais".

After dinner, I jumped ship to Wei Zhu's car, heading to Sungai Petani. It will be my home for the next few days. Exactly, I settled down in OKKSP's house.

The next day, Shern Shiou and his family went to Penang for family function. I was left to Wei Zhu to "babysit" for the rest of the day, awaiting Shern Shiou to come back from Penang. A good babysitter is Wei Zhu that he brought me to snooker centre at Centre Square.

On my third day in Sungai Petani, Shern Shiou brought me to this "legendary" fried kuey teow place. An old granny fried the kuey teow the traditional way, with charcoal fire pit. It was terribly NICE!

Last visit is to Auto-City Penang near Juru. After 2 rounds of stroll around the area, we finally settle down at Ice Ice Baby. While waiting for Shi Jia and Joshua, we check out pretty girls walking pass.

Wei-Zhu look slightly "gay-ish" with the spoon stuck out from his mouth. Hey, his ice cream looks really delicious! And next..this is the so-called evidence that I have reached Auto-City.


The next morning after breakfast with Shern Shiou's family, I went back to UTP with Wei Zhu. I can lay myself down, feeling assured that he is a dependable driver!

Pilot Test

It has been a day of hard work for me doing pilot test for my Final Year Project.

Woke up at 10.00 AM feeling hungry, I quickly gobble down the High5 bread that I bought for breakfast. Complemented with a cup of white coffee, it would be superb. Hahaha am I conscious? There's no coffee on the table, just the cup! =(

After lunch at 1.15 PM, it's time for one-man-show. I went off to overhead bridge in front UTP gate to start my pilot test. I measured the road, I marked the upstream, I marked the downstream, all under the hot burning sun of Tronoh town.

Preparation took me 15 minutes while data collection took another 15 (Ipoh-Lumut). Done with that, I have to turn around and start collecting data for opposite direction, which is Lumut-Ipoh.

All together, I spent 1 hour on the overhead bridge.

Photo : Highway leading towards Ipoh direction

Not bad that UTP actually have beautiful sceneries with 7 lakes surrounding Old Village 5. All the lakes have undergo dredging, with channels connecting them together.

Photo : One of the biggest lake is visible from the main road (Top right : Dredging and landscaping works ongoing at the bank of the lake)

Farewell to Mahen and Shern Shiou

Finally exams are over. No more books for now and of course it's time for happy hour together with friends. Stars for the night are Mahen and Shern Shiou, who has completed their studies in UTP for a total period of four(4) and a half year. While for me, I have another one(1) semester to go.

We had our farewell dinner in Diners' Arm Ipoh, situated near Padang Ipoh. It's quite a cozy place. Honestly this is my first time to a so-called high class diner place. We took a lot of pictures, but unfortunately they have not been uploaded for sharing in mIRC.

This is the only picture I managed to grab from Siew Mei's Facebook.

From left : Shern Shiou, myself, Siew Mei and Natasya

After the dinner, all of us took pictures together for remembrance. The highlight of all pictures is Beh and Set Lee.

From left : Beh, Set Lee

Photo : Edwin feels intimidated

Picture credit to Wei-zhu who snapped Beh and Set Lee quietly with his camera phone. I think there are more beautiful shots taken that night, so I shall upload them as soon as I get them.


Next agenda for the night is karaoke at Ipoh Parade. Somehow it made me think of my internship period in Cheras. It has been long since I sing out loud to my throat. Beulah and me sang " Kau Ilhamku". Sigh..what to do. I am English educated thus I couldn't sing any Chinese song. Yes, none. I am a banana.

Karaoke close early that night because it was a weekday. The night is still young, so we settle down in a coffee house situated behind Ipoh Jusco to quench our thirst. We ordered 8 bottles of Carlsberg and got 2 free EURO2008 mugs. One for Mahen, and another for Shern Shiou.

It never crosses my mind that they wanted to play Truth or Dare. The details : CLASSIFIED.