Sister slaps Rempit girl

Sister slaps Rempit girl

GEORGE TOWN: A 16-year-old schoolgirl was slapped several times by her elder sister at the state police contingent headquarters here for being involved in illegal motorcycle racing.

The girl was among 112 Mat Rempit and pillion riders aged between 13 and 26 who were detained in an operation at Jalan Bukit Gambier in Gelugor from midnight till 3am.

Policemen and reporters were stunned when the elder sister, in her 20s, slapped her younger sister in front of onlookers at about 10.30am.

“You janji you akan bertukar! (you promised you’ll turn over a new leaf),” the sister was heard rebuking the girl.

Later, when the girl tried to salam (greet) her sister, the latter was heard shouting “jangan sentuh aku!” (don’t touch me!).

Earlier, the sister and her mother had pleaded with state public order and traffic chief Supt Wan Aziz Wan Husin to release the younger girl, who was a pillion rider.

She was also heard telling police that the younger girl had played truant from school.

The police also made the group push their machines for about 15km from Jalan Bukit Gambier to the headquarters at Jalan Penang.

The journey started at 4.30am and they took about three and a half hours to reach their destination.

The motorcyclists were allowed to rest briefly after every 2km. Many were seen huffing and puffing and were also drenched in sweat.

Supt Wan Aziz said 74 summonses were issued to the 73 Mat Rempit for various offences.

“We carried out urine tests but none of them tested positive. We will issue letters to their parents informing them of their children’s racing activities,” he said.

* I salute the police for making the group walk for 15km with their machines/ motorbikes. Serve them right! Well done PDRM!

Errors in PMR English paper

Errors in PMR English paper

I WISH to highlight some glaring errors which appeared in English Paper 1 of the recent PMR (Penilaian Menengah Rendah) examination.

Candidates had to read through a passage and answer questions 29 to 34. I was both disappointed and surprised as the passage had some serious errors.

In the first paragraph, the author wrote: “Being a Penangite, it was indeed fun to go somewhere far as it would be a change from my normal routine…”

This is a classic dangling modifier in which the author refers it (the trip) as a Penangite.

There were two other flaws in the second paragraph:

The first one “Drop me off at a small town” should correctly read as “in a small town” while the other one “I went to enquire at the bus station” should in fact read “I went to enquire about the bus schedule at the bus station”.

The writer wrote in the third paragraph: “… I alighted where most buses stopped for passengers to get refreshments and stretch their legs.”

Did he or she really mean he or she got off the bus where most buses stopped for passengers to get refreshments and stretch their legs?

Then, in the fourth paragraph, the passage read: “I enquired from someone and was told to wait at a bus stop across the road. Hence, I waited eagerly…”

The word “hence” means “for that reason” and to me, it is not an appropriate word to use in that context. The word “hence” is a formal word, it should not be included in that context and is not followed by a comma but a noun, or noun phrase.

For example, “He was involved in a serious road accident – hence the scars.”

This is like a square peg in a round hole. Hence, the writer or teacher has poor diction.

Furthermore, the usage, “I enquired from” is not a standard form of English, it should be “I enquired of”.

I was fuming with anger when I read the last sentence of the passage: “This will definitely be one experience that I will never forget!”

What was the author trying to say - did the experience happen or did it not? It should read: “That was definitely an experience that I will never forget!”

Did the author imply that the experience is yet to happen? The correct one should be: “That was definitely an experience that I will never forget!”

In question 32, “The word alighted means: A - got down…”. In standard English, we do not say “get down the bus”, we use “get off the bus”.

In question 33, “The bus stopped at Yong Peng to allow the passengers to: A – take a nap; B – relax themselves; C – check into a hotel…”

The phrase “check into a hotel” (in C) should in fact read “check in at a hotel” or “check in to a hotel”.

The word “relax” (in B) is not used with reflexive pronouns like myself, yourself , themselves, etc.

There were at least four or five grave grammatical mistakes in this PMR 2010 English Paper 1 passage.

It is a shame that such errors have appeared in the language paper of a major national exam!

Even the reviewers, who must be English Language specialists, were not able to detect the mistakes.

There is a Russian proverb that aptly says, “A fish rots from the head down’’.

If we want to improve the standard of English in Malaysia, we have to retrain our English teachers comprehensively and thoroughly.

We have to do it before they start teaching our children. Please do something about this situation fast for the sake of our next generation.

MR LIM
Via e-mail

Langkawi hit by jellyfish boom

Langkawi hit by jellyfish boom

LANGKAWI: Improper dumping of sewage and the disappearance of turtles has caused an explosion in the jellyfish population which is threatening tourism here.

In the first 21 days of July alone, 185 cases of jellyfish attacks on tourists and residents including fishermen were recorded and this is becoming a cause of concern to the Langkawi Development Authority (Lada).

The authority is seeking Malaysia Nature Society’s help to reduce the number of jellyfish.

Lada’s economic affairs assistant officer Shajiddeen Shaari said the best way to curb the number of jellyfish would be to prevent marine pollution.

However, he said they faced problems in increasing the number of turtles, which feed on jellyfish, because of pollution along the beaches.

“Turtles mistake plastic bags for food as to they look like floating jellyfish to the turtles,” said Shajiddeen.

He said jellyfish are also reducing the fish population as they eat fish eggs.

Veteran nature guide Othman Ayeb said rising water temperatures due to pollution also contributed to the jellyfish boom.

He said that in the past, the jellyfish were usually found some 5km to 10km away from the shoreline.

“However, due to the improper management of sewage from resorts and hotels, the jellyfish started to breed along the shore,” he said.

Othman added that Pantai Cenang has the highest number of jellyfish because of the bad water quality.

“However, we have yet to ascertain the jellyfish species,” he said, adding that samples will be sent to Universiti Sains Malaysia for proper identification.

Man slits child’s throat

Man slits child’s throat

KOTA BARU: A three-year-old boy died after a close relative slit his throat in Kampung Sungai Budor here.

The attacker also sustained injuries in the neck when he turned the knife on himself.

The boy – Mohd Adam Muzaffar Muhaimi – died on the spot in the 11.40am incident yesterday.

His grandfather Nik Hashim Nik Abdullah, 64, who lived nearby, contacted the police who arrested the 33-year-old attacker.

It is believed the suspect had a history of mental illness.

Nik Hashim said the suspect was believed to have run out medication for quite some time.

“He kept to himself of late,” he said of the suspect who last worked as a security guard at a supermarket here.

Police also found a knife believed to be the weapon used in the incident.

Adam Muzaffar was the second of three siblings.

His body had been sent to the Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital and was later claimed by his family for burial.

Kelantan acting police chief ACP Mazlan Lazim said police were investigating the case under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder. — Bernama

Salam Ramadhan

Dearest friends/ Wahai sahabat-sahabatku/ 親愛的朋友們,

UFO sighting causes stir at beach resort

UFO sighting causes stir at beach resort

SIGHTINGS of an unidentified flying object (UFO) have been reported by guests and employees at a beach resort near Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Harian Metro reported.

The tabloid even published a front-page blurb of the object, which had apparently caused much excitement and uneasiness among those staying at the Tuaran Beach Resort.

One of the guests, Jemas Dungil, 27, told the tabloid that a woman shouted when she saw a round blue flying object in the sky.

“We came out of a hall to see what the commotion was all about and I saw a round blue disc in the sky.

“It turned green a few seconds later,” she said.

Several other guests and employees, who claimed to have also spotted the object, said it hovered in the air for a few minutes before disappearing.

Some even claimed that their handphones “went dead” when they tried to record the object with the devices.

Jemas said although she managed to capture a picture of the object, she did not believe that it was a UFO.

“What I saw was really extraordinary because it happened right in front of me,” she said.

Another witness, Donny Benedict, 29, said he did not believe in the existence of UFOs, but changed his mind upon watching the unusual sight.

“I saw the object for about 20 seconds before it disappeared.

“It’s strange that it did not make any noise like a normal aircraft,” he said, adding that he regretted not being able to take a picture of the object with his handphone as it was out of battery.

Sleep problems linked to weight gain in middle-age

Sleep problems linked to weight gain in middle-age

Women, try not to think of this if you lie awake at night: having trouble sleeping means you're likely to gain weight.

As if simply getting older weren't hard enough, new research shows that middle-aged and older women who have trouble falling or staying asleep may pack on more pounds than their well-rested contemporaries.

A number of studies have found that sleep-deprived children and adults are more likely to be overweight than those who usually get a full night's rest. But many of those studies assessed people at one point in time, so it was hard to know which came first, the sleep problems or the excess pounds.

A few studies have followed people over time, but they've disagreed about whether poor sleep is linked to expanding waistlines.

The new findings, reported in the International Journal of Obesity, strengthen the evidence that sleep problems are related to weight gain. In this case, the study design allowed the researchers to show that sleep problems came before substantial weight gain in some participants.

Finnish researchers followed more than 7,300 40- to 60-year-old adults for seven years. They found that women who reported significant sleep problems at the outset generally put on more weight over time than women who slept well.

Roughly one-third of women with frequent sleep problems gained at least 11 pounds, versus about a fifth of women with no sleep difficulties at the outset.

Men were spared, however. Their sleep problems were not related to weight gain.

The link in the women persisted even when the investigators accounted for a number of factors that can affect both sleep quality and weight gain -- including participants' body weight at the study's start, their exercise habits and their general physical and mental health.

While the findings do not prove cause-and-effect, they raise the possibility that improving sleep quality might help stave off excess weight gain, lead researcher Peppi Lyytikainen, of the University of Helsinki, told Reuters Health by e-mail.

The 7,332 men and women in the study were first surveyed between 2000 and 2002. Those who said they'd had trouble falling asleep or staying asleep on at least 14 nights in the past month were classified as having "frequent" sleep problems. The study participants also reported their weight and height during the first survey, then again five to seven years later.

At the outset, 20 percent of women had frequent sleep problems. Overall, the study found, those women were more likely to report a "major" weight gain -- 11 pounds or more -- by the study's end compared to women who slept well.

But the 17 percent of men who reported sleep problems were no more likely to gain weight than those who slept without difficulty.

The reason for the disparate findings for men and women is unclear, according to Lyytikainen's team. But it might be related to the fact that the study included a smaller number of men than women -- 1,300 versus more than 5,700 -- which may have made any potential effect among men harder to detect.

This type of study, however -- in which researchers observe people over time -- can't prove cause-and-effect. While the researchers accounted for a number of variables related to sleep and weight -- like self-reported general health and exercise and other lifestyle habits -- they cannot rule out the possibility that factors other than sleep problems account for the higher risk of substantial weight.

Other research does suggest that sleep deprivation may affect the body in ways that contribute to weight gain, Lyytikainen said.

There is evidence, for example, that sleep loss alters people's levels of the appetite-regulating hormones leptin and ghrelin -- which could, in theory, spur them to overeat.

It is unknown, however, whether treating insomnia and other sleep disturbances has any added benefit for people's waistlines. SOURCE: http://link.reuters.com/nub45m International Journal of Obesity, online June 8, 2010.

1st day of June...

Oh dear...
How time flies...
It's the 1st day of a new month...half year almost gone!
Few more days, it'll be my 1st wedding anniversary...with my hubby Joe...
Everyday I love him...I'm so speechless at times...
We're both trying very hard to have a family but
maybe the time is not right for us yet...
We both believe that the right time will come soon...

Langkawi is really like a heaven to me & Joe...
Maybe coz there's no traffic jam like in KL & KK...
Maybe coz chocolates are cheap here...
Not many places sell good food...
People are friendly...kind...
I love the beaches!
Anyway, I do miss KK very much!
Can't wait to go back to KK & have some hinavas & bambangan!