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Showing posts with label living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label living. Show all posts

Wednesday 2 June 2021

How to overcome stress and anxiety

THESE are difficult times and thus, stress levels are on the rise

If you’re suffering from tension, headaches, feelings of depression and other effects of too much strain, think about how you can help yourself.

Firstly, everyone is different so the things that you find stressful may not be stressful to others. For example, approaching strangers and asking them to sign up for something may be a horror for you, but it gets a natural salesperson smiling with anticipation.

Bottom line: stress is intensely personal. Figure out what factors hit you hardest. Now you know where to start.

Secondly, stress is something imposed on you that you just have to accept.

A lot of the time, you can anticipate and plan to manage the events that make you uptight.

For example, if you know that Tuesdays are stressful because it’s the day when you have a one-on-one with a tough client, make sure that you schedule something afterwards that will help you blow off steam – like a run or a coffee with a cherished friend.

Thirdly, just like stress is highly individual, so are methods for managing it.

Classic methods include physical exercise, breathing, meditation and eating properly.

However, if you’re doing these and they are not working for you, explore ways that work for you. Maybe you distress from painting, cooking or composting haiku.

If you need ideas, just think back to the last time you were feeling serene.

Finally, it’s not a sign of strength to ignore stress.

Studies show that long-term stress will affect your health and can lead to problems such as insomnia, upset stomachs, rashes and high blood pressure.

So don’t ignore those little niggles. Instead listen to your body and take early action. 

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Saturday 7 November 2020

Malaysia Bigest Budget 2021 as New Covid-19 cases at its highest




PETALING JAYA: Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz is presenting Budget 2021 in the Dewan Rakyat, the first under Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s administration.

Budget 2021 is widely expected to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest federal budget to date, as it contains many measures to help ordinary Malaysians and to stimulate economic recovery in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Follow the developments below: Updating...

Special finance aid for civil servants

The government announced a special finance aid worth RM600 for civil servants grade 56 and below. For pensioners and veterans with no pension, a special financial aid of RM300 will be given. Both aids will be paid out early 2021.

Vapourising vaping

Excise duty at an ad valorem rate of 10% on all types of electronic cigarette devices and non-electronic devices, including vaping products.

Electronic cigarette liquids will also be subjected to an excise duty at a rate of RM0.40 per millimetre.

More savings for households

SAVE 2.0 programme will be introduced, where an e-Rebate of RM200 for a household purchasing a locally made air-conditioning unit or refrigerator. RM30mil has been allocated for the programme, and it would benefit 140,000 households.

Duty-free doom for ciggies

Beginning January 2021, no more new cigarette import licences will be issued. Such licence renewals will also be tightened and the conditions revised, including imposing import quotas.

The transhipment of cigarette exports will be limited to selected ports. Taxes will be imposed on drawbacks on all imported cigarettes for the purpose of transhipment and re-export.

The government will also not allow transhipment activities and re-exports of cigarettes using pump boats.

Taxes will also be imposed on cigarettes and tobacco products at all duty-free islands.

Towards cleaner rivers

RM50mil will be allocated to tackle rubbish and solid waste in rivers,

Education Ministry gets biggest allocation

The Education Ministry will receive the biggest allocation with RM50.4bil or 15.6% of the total budget.

Task force beefed to battle smuggling

The Multi-Agency Task Force will be empowered with the inclusion of the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and National Anti-Financial Crime Centre to battle smuggling of high duty items.

When the levy breaks

To help reduce the cashflow burden of still-affected companies, a Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF) levy exemption will be given for six months effective Jan 1, 2021. This exemption will cover the tourism sector and companies affected by Covid-19.

Indigenous inspiration

To ensure the wellbeing of the Orang Asli community, RM158mil has been allocated.

This will be channelled to social assistance and development programmes.

A total of RM5mil has been allocated for surveying work to mark the borders of 21 villages.

Another RM41mil has been allocated for a Native Customary Rights programme in Sabah and Sarawak.

Assistance for contractors

RM2.5bil will be allocated to Class G1 to G4 contractors to carry out small and medium projects nationwide. This will include RM200mil for Federal road maintenance and RM50mil for the maintenance of People's Housing Program housing units.

Special grant for Sabah traders

The government has heard about the plight of the traders and hawkers in Sabah who were greatly affected from the reduced presence of tourists. Thus, an additional Prihatin Special Grant (GKP) of RM1,000 will be given to traders and hawkers in Sabah. This special grant will also be given to taxi drivers, e-hailing drivers, car rentals and tourist guides in Sabah.

Equity crowdfunding boost

To encourage more individual investors to participate in equity crowdfunding (ECF) platforms, an income tax exemption of 50% from the invested amount or limited to RM50,000 will be given.

RM30mil is allocated to a matching grant that will be invested into ECF platforms under the supervision of the Securities Commission.

Preparing for tourists

To ensure the readiness of tourist hotspots, RM50mil is prepared for the maintenance and repairs of tourism facilities all over the country. RM20mil has also been allocated for improving the infrastructure and spurring the promotion of Cultural Villages in Terengganu, Melaka, Sarawak and Negeri Sembilan. 

 Healthcare help

RM35mil allocated to the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council to increase competitiveness in the local health tourism sector.

The government will also extend the tax exemption for private healthcare service exports until 2022.

Micro credit financing

Micro credit financing of almost RM1.2bil will be made available through Tekun, PUNB, Agrobank, BSN and other financial institutions. This includes an additional RM110mil to the Micro Enterprises Facility under Bank Negara to encourage entrepreneurship activities among gig workers and those who are self-employed as well as to support the iTekad implementation programme.

Preserving heritage buildings

RM10mil will be allocated to ensure heritage buildings such as Bangunan Sultan Abdul Saad and Carcosa Seri Negara will be maintained and become tourism icons.

More child care centres at government buildings

To improve the support system for frontliners and working parents, RM30mil has been allocated for the setting up of child care centres at government buildings, especially hospitals. Another Rm20mil has been in grants will be allocated to the private sector to encourage them to set up similar centres.

Locals and Orang Asli as tourist guides

Employment opportunities will be provided to 500 people from the local community and the Orang Asli as tourist guides at all national parks to spur the ecotourism segment.

Help for airline staff

The government recognises that the tourism industry, especially airline companies, are among the most affected sectors. Thus, the government will provide training programs and relocations for 8,000 staff from airline companies in Malaysia, with an allocation of RM50mil.

Boost for palm oil sector

The Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) Certification Scheme will be continued with RM20mil to boost the growth of the country's palm oil sector. A matching grant of RM30mil to encourage investments will be introduced.

Social support centre for women

To combat the issue of domestic violence, the government will set up a social support centre with an allocation of RM21mil. With the help of NGOs, the centre will provide social and moral support for women, especially those facing domestic violence and divorce.

Promoting Malaysian-made goods

RM35mil will be allocated to promote Malaysian-made goods and services under the trade and investment mission.

Supporting the production of local products

The National Development Scheme (NDS) worth RM1.4bil will be allocated to support the implementation of domestic supply chain development and increase the production of local products such as medical equipment.

Safety net

RM24mil has been allocated for a Socso disaster scheme that is expected to benefit 100,000 workers, including delivery drivers and contractual civil service workers.

Contribution to battle Covid-19

Four glove manufacturers - Top Glove, Hartalega, Supermax and Kossan have committed to contribute RM400mil to battle Covid-19, including bearing the cost of the Covid-19 vaccine and health equipment.

<Encouraging high tech and innovative sector Encouraging high tech and innovative sector

RM500mil High Technology Fund will be provided by Bank Negara to support high tech and innovative sector companies.

EPF withdrawal for insurance purchase

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) will allow its members to withdraw from their Account 2 to purchase insurance products for themselves and their family members. The Private Retirement Scheme (PRS) tax relief of RM3000 a year has been extended until 2025.

RM1bil will be provided as a technology and high value investment incentive package.

Allocation for Defence Ministry and Home Ministry

The Defence Ministry and the Home Ministry will be allocated RM16bil and RM17bil, respectively.

Improving cyber security safety

RM27mil will be allocated to CyberSecurity Malaysia to improve the cyber security safety of the country.  

Laptops for online classes

To ensure students at higher learning institutions (IPT) on PTPTN loans are able to follow online classes, the government will work with BSN to ready RM100mil to finance Skim BSN MyRInggit-i COMSIS, a laptop computer loan scheme. Unlimited pass, and beyond!

The My30 Unlimited Travel Pass initiative will be continued and further implemented in Penang and Kuantan with an overall allocation of RM300mil.

An unlimited monthly travel pass at RM5 will be introduced to students from Year One to Form Six, as well as disabled students.

Tax relief for parents saving for their children's future

To encourage parents to save for the costs of their children’s higher education fees, a tax relief of up to RM8.000 for National Education Savings Scheme (SSPN) net savings will be implemented until assessment year 2022.

Tourism aid

The wage subsidy programme will be extended for another three months, in a targeted manner especially for those in the tourism sector. Altogether, RM1.5bil has been allocated, with an estimated 70,000 employers and 900,000 workers expected to benefit.

Creating jobs

A short-term employment programme MyStep with an allocation of RM700mil will offer 50,000 contractual job opportunities in the civil service and government linked companies (GLCs) from January 2021.

Under this initiative, 35,000 jobs in the civil service will be offered, with a priority given to vacancies such as nurses and medical attendants. The GLCs will provide 15,000 jobs with a priority on technical and financial fields.

Better infrastructure in public universities

Some RM14.4bil will be allocated to the Higher Education Ministry. This would include RM50mil to repair infrastructure and old equipment in public universities.

Stamp duty exemption for first home owners

Full stamp duty exemption will be given to transfer of ownership document and loan agreement for the purchase of a first home worth not more than RM500,000. This exemption will be for the purchase agreement from January 2021 to Dec 31, 2025.

Stable internet connection in universities

To ensure stable internet connection in tertiary education institutions, the government has allocated RM50mil to upgrade the Malaysian Research and Education Network (MYREN) access from 500Mbps to 10Gbps.

Free laptops for students

In the new normal, online learning has become an everyday practice. GLCs and GLICs will contribute RM150mil to Tabung Cerdik to give laptops to 150,000 students at 500 schools in a pilot project. The project will be overseen by Yayasan Hasanah.

A healthier, fitter you (with apologies to Radiohead)

The government allocates RM19mil to implement the Healthy Malaysia National Agenda (Agenda Nasional Malaysia Sihat) to encourage a healthy lifestyle and reduce the risk of of diabetes, hypertension and obesity.

As much as RM28mil will be allocated to carry out programmes like MyFit, Hari Sukan Negara and the Inspire programme for the disabled.

Higher lifestyle tax relief

The limit of the ‘lifestyle tax relief’ has been raised from RM2,500 to RM3,000, which is an increase of RM500 specifically for sports-related expenditure, including entrance participation fees for sports competitions. The scope of the relief has also been expanded to include subscription to electronic newspapers.

Assistance for rubber smallholders

To help rubber smallholders, the rubber production incentive will be increased from RM150mil to RM300mil, with an expected 150,000 smallholders to benefit from this. Another RM1.7bil will be allocated in forms of subsidies, assistance, and incentives for farmers and fishermen.

RM50 e-wallet credit for the youth

The government through the eYouth Programme (Program eBelia) will credit a one-off RM50 to e-wallet accounts of those aged between 18 and 20 years old. With the allocation of RM75mil, the initiative will benefit some 1.5mil youths.

Community centres for childcare

Community centres will be provided as a place of care for children after their school session ends.

Early childhood education programmes RM170mil will be allocated for the early childhood education programmes by the Community Development Department (Kemas).

Tax deduction for employers of senior citizens

Additional tax deductions will be given to employers who employ senior citizens. This tax deduction will be extended until 2025.

RM2.7 billion is allocated for the improvement of rural infrastructure.

Appreciation for artists

RM15mil will be allocated to the Cultural Economy Development Agency (Cendana) for the implementation of various art and cultural programmes that will benefit more than 5000 artists and those who work behind the scenes.

Community programmes

For the Chinese community: RM177mil will be provided for the improvement of education facilities, housing and new village development.

For the Indian community: RM100mil be allocated to the Indian Community Transformation Unit (MITRA) to empower the socioeconomic status of the Indian community.

PenjanaKerjaya

Under the recruitment of workers under Social Security Organisation (Socso) known as the PenjanaKerjaya:

Incentives for workers earning RM1500 and above will be increased from a rate of RM800 a month, to 40% from of its monthly salary, limited to an incentive of RM4000 a month.

Employers will be given an additional incentive of 20% to encourage job opportunities for people with disabilities, those who are unemployed long-term and workers who have been terminated.

For sectors with high reliance on foreign workers such as those in construction and plantation sector, a special incentive of 60% of the monthly salary will be provided with 40% channeled directly to employers and 20% to local workers to replace the foreign workers.

These incentive will be given for a period of six months.

Those hired under the PenjanaKerjaya, the maximum cost of the training programme that can be claimed by employers will be raised from RM4000 to RM7000 to undergo the a high-skilled programme or a professional certificate programme.

Optomising the value of Malay reserve land

RM750mil will be allocated to Pelaburan Hartanah Berhad (PHB) under the 12th Malaysian Plan to increase the value of Bumiputra reserve land.

Lower EPF contributions

The EPF contribution rate for workers will be reduced from 11% to 9% starting January 2021, for 12 months, worth a total of RM9.3bil.

Reskilling and upskilling programmes

RM1 billion will be allocated for upskilling and reskilling programme involving 200,000 people.

LOWER TAXES … for some

The income tax of those earning between RM50,001 and RM70,000 will be lowered by one percentage point, expected to benefit 1.4 million taxpayers.

For a period of two assessment years, the income tax exemption limit for compensation paid upon job loss will be increased from RM10,000 to RM20,000 for every year of service completed.

Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR)

The Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) assistance package will be changed to Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR) with better assistance.

1) Those with a household income of less than RM2500, and with a child will receive RM1200, while those with two children or more will receive RM1800.

2) Those with a household income of between RM2501 and RM4000, and with one child will receive RM800, while those with two children or more will receive RM1200.

3) Those with a household income of between RM4000 and RM5001, and with one child will receive RM500, while those with two children or more will receive RM750.

4) Single individuals with an income of less than Rm2500 will receive RM350.

The BPR is expected to benefit 8.1mil people with an allocation of Rm6.5bil.

Welfare assistance for the disabled

To assist the disabled (OKU), the government has agreed to increase the monthly welfare assistance for the group which includes;

1. Non-working OKU allowance increased from RM250 to RM300;

2. Assistance for senior citizens as well as OKU and chronic patients increased from RM350 to RM500;

3. Allowance for OKU workers increased from RM400 to RM450;

4. Assistance for children from poor families to be increased. An increase of RM100 to RM150 per child between the age of seven and 18 years, and up to RM450 per family, or an increase to RM200 for a child aged six and below per family to a maximum of RM1,000 per family.

EPF withdrawal

In a much awaited-move, the government has announced the targeted facility to withdraw EPF savings from Account 1, as much as RM500 per month, amounting up to RM6,,000 for 12 months.

This withdrawal is to assist EPF members who have lost their jobs, and is expected to lighten the financial burden of 600,000 affected members.

Taking into account both the i-Lestari initiative as well as the Account 1 withdrawal facility, the total of cash withdrawal is up to RM12,000.

It is projected that the total payment for Account 1 withdrawals will involve RM4bil.

Eligible members can apply starting January 2021.

Life and health

The government will expand mySalam protection for medical device cost claims such as stents for the heart, or prostheses.

The government also intends to expand social protections for the B40 group through a voucher programme for life insurance.

Each B40 recipient will be given RM50 vouchers as financial assistance for products such as takaful and personal accident insurance.

At the same time, the government will also extend the period of stamp duty exemption on all life insurance products, not exceeding RM100, for another five years until the 2025 assessment year.

BPN2.0 second phase payments in 2021

The BPN was introduced to reduce cash flow burdens for the rakyat who are affected in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2020, BPN and the Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) involved the channelling of RM21bil to 10.6 million recipients. In January 2021, the BPN2.0 second phase payments amounting RM2.2bil will be channelled out.

Pneumococcal immunisation programme

A pneumococcal immunisation programme will be implemented for children with an allocation of RM90mil which is expected to benefit 500,000 children.

#KitaJagaKita

The Finance Minister says he is touched with the #KitaJagaKita spirit among Malaysians, and recalls the story of Bertam-born Rosnizam Ishak, who started a marinated lamb business using Bantuan Prihatin Nasional, creating job opportunities for those in the vicinity.

He also cites the example of Pajan Singh Kirpal Singh, who provided free accommodation for frontliners posted to Kuantan during the movement control order and recovery movement control order period, and Michelle Kugan, a crystal and pearl entrepreneur who used micro loans under the National Entrepreneur Group Economic Fund (Tekun) to sustain her business in Tuaran, Sabah.

Thus, Budget 2021 is crafted for Malaysians and themed “Teguh Kita, Menang Bersama”.

Pro-vaxxers

To encourage Malaysians to get preventive vaccinations to curb the spread of diseases, the government will expand the scope of tax exemption for the medical treatment covering vaccination expenses such as pneumococcal, influenza and Covid-19.

Tax exemption will be given for the vaccination costs for self, spouses and children limited to RM1,000.

Tax relief

The government will raise the tax relief limit on personal, spouse and child medical treatment for serious illnesses from RM6,000 to RM8,000. In addition, the tax relief for a full health screening will be increased from RM500 to RM1,000.

The tax relief on expenses for medical treatment, special needs and parental care has also been raised from RM5,000 to RM8,000.

Big budget

Govt allocates RM322.5bil, or 20.6% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), for Budget 2021. This is an increase from its total expenditure allocation for 2020, which has been revised upwards to RM314.7bil from the initial budget estimate of RM297bil.

Every individual in B40 group will receive a special voucher worth RM50 to buy takaful hayat and personal accident insurance.

An allocation of RM24mil is provided to address mental health issues by strengthening Mental Health, Terrorism and Injury Prevention Program as well as Substance Abuse.

The maximum tax relief for individual, spouse and children's medical expenses for serious medical ailments raised to RM8,000 from RM6,000

Fight the good fight

RM150mil will also be allocated for the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) to coordinate efforts to fight Covid-19.

Hail the frontliners

To honour the sacrifices of frontline workers in handling the Covid-19 pandemic, the government has agreed to a one-off payment of RM500 to them, which is expected to benefit 100,000 people.

For 2021, the government said it will allocate RM1bil more to fight the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

For the year 2020, the government has allocated RM1.8bil for the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) as well as related public health facilities related to Covid-19 among which is to purchase personal protection equipment (PPE), reagents and consumables.

The government will raise the ceiling of the Kumpulan Wang Covid-19 by RM20bil to RM65bil to fund the Kita Prihatin initiative.

The government proposes to raise the ceiling of the Covid-19 Fund by RM20bil to RM65bil.

Three main objectives of Budget 2021

Firstly: The wellbeing of the people

Secondly: Business continuity

Thirdly: Resilience of the economy

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz points out that Malaysia has gone through a challenging year in 2020. He says that never in modern history has a plague caused such an impact.

We will get through this!

Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz: The government expects the economy to recover in 2021, and to grow by between 6.5% and 7.5% in line with the stimulus packages and Budget 2021.

Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz begins his speech.

Speaker allows the request and calls all MPs to enter the hall.

Let us in!

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim urges that more MPs be allowed into the Hall to hear and debate the Budget 2021 proposal.

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Thursday 6 August 2020

Understanding the attraction between men and women


Dr Goh Pei Hwa  from Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Science


HOW many times have we all, at some point in our lives, misinterpreted signs?


Movies like He’s Just Not That into You, which is based on Greg Behrendt’s and Liz Tuccillo’s 2004 self-help book of the same name, tells people that if a man in whom you are interested in is not making an effort to pursue you, he is “just not that into you.”

Research has long indicated that it is mostly men, who tend to misperceive friendliness as sexual interest. They overestimate the sexual interest of potential mates. Even when two people have clearly defined their relationship as platonic, more often, it is the men, who are attracted to their opposite-sex friends.

According to Dr Goh Pei Hwa from the Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, this is not always the case.

While the majority of existing findings show the abovementioned pattern of men overperceiving sexual interest, relationship researchers have demonstrated that among heterosexual couples in committed relationships, men were more likely to underperceive sexual interest from their partners.

Men from certain cultures were also less likely to overperceive sexual interest than others.

In other words, the “male over perception bias” appears to be less universal than previously assumed.

In her recent work, Dr Goh revisited the question of gender differences in sexual perception accuracy using a face-to-face, laboratory-based interaction paradigm on a sample of university students in Malaysia.

Participants consisted of 62 previously unacquainted heterosexual dyads aged 20 years on average. Each participant was randomly paired with another participant of the other sex, and each dyad engaged in a semi-structured conversation task for five minutes.

After the interaction task, participants completed measures capturing their degree of sexual interest in their interaction partner and an estimation of their partner’s sexual interest in them.

Results revealed that people’s perception of their partner’s sexual interest did not match their partner’s actual sexual interest. This indicates that people generally lacked accuracy in their perception of sexual interest.

In fact, people’s perception of sexual interest was highly in line with their own sexual interest in their interaction partner.

More importantly, no gender differences were found. This means that both men and women were equally inaccurate and equally likely to project their own sexual interest onto their estimations of their partner’s sexual interest.

“In essence, people are bad at interpreting sexual interest from strangers. Based on the research, Malaysian men do not overperceive sexual interest as past studies have suggested. Women, on the other hand, tend to underperceive sexual interest, supporting past studies,” says Goh.

The current study advances our understanding that people are generally underperceiving sexual interest in initial interactions, regardless of gender.

That is, people are either not communicating their sexual interest effectively or missing all the sexual interest cues being expressed by someone else.

Here, it translates into a lot of potentially missed opportunities. This is highly applicable to first meetings between potential partners, which begs the question: does technology further impede our ability to gauge the sexual interest of others accurately?

With dating apps, we typically already know that we are chatting with someone who finds us attractive or appealing to a certain extent.

Thus, there is no need to try to decipher whether or not someone is into us based on the interaction.

Goh concludes: “If you like someone or have some interest in a person, express it more overtly. This will invite the other person to respond according to his or her own interest in you.

“Let the other person decide if he or she is interested, not you and your potentially (or most likely) wrong perceptions”.

■ For more details, look out for the advertisement in this StarSpecial.

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Saturday 1 August 2020

Dirty hands are a sign of clean money




https://youtu.be/0XExSHFkOgw

Image may contain: coffee cup and drink, text that says "IT''s A TO GREAT BiG SOMETHING START DAY"

Dirty hands are the sign of honest, though not necessarily clean, work and labor and thus the income from such work is what we could call clean money. .

A person working with his or her hands, generally, has signs of this ingrained in skin of their hands and it is those people that we should value more than those who have highly manicured hands, whether female or male, who thus, more than likely, have never done an honest day's work.

But society values the latter more than the former, unfortunately, and we can see where that has led us, I am sure. Not only does society value the clean hands, as in no physical dirt on them, but also those that make vast sums of money, which those that do an honest day's work getting their hands dirty, do not.

The worker is the backbone of society for without him or her nothing would get produced, no streets cleaned, no parks and public spaces maintained, no food produced and no wood. The majority of office staff, civil servants, bankers and such like we could well do without, but we cannot do without the worker, the farmer and the forester. Neither, I know, can we do without doctors and nurses, and the cleaners in hospitals. Nor without the carers for the elderly and the sick. But most of those would fall under the term of worker anyway and thus are covered.

The disgrace is that those who toil hard with their hands and do the real work are those that get the lowest share in remuneration from their labors while those who do not do a single stroke of work are the ones who get all the rewards, which really are not due to them.

There are schools, nowadays, and I guess they have always been, who teach the kids that they should not aspire to the “low” jobs of working with their hands with terms such as “you are better than that”, or “we”, referring in that case to the entire school, “we are better than that”. I wonder what they think would happen if there would be not refuse workers, no street cleaners, and such like. For one they would be drowning in their own garbage that they create on a daily basis, not to think about the other things that would not happen would those workers not be there.

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)


Sunday 25 January 2015

Living life to the fullest

Chan, an avid mountaineer and myelofibrosis patient, with a photo of himself (in red jacket) and fellow climbers at the summit of Mount Kinabalu. Photo: UU BAN/The Star >>

Despite having a rare blood disorder, Tan Sri Chan Choong Tak not only continued his active lifestyle , but also took up mountain-climbing.

FORMER Dewan Negara president Tan Sri Chan Choong Tak’s motto in life is to live it to the fullest.

Not surprising then that among his many accomplishments are two Malaysian Book of Records titles as the oldest Malaysian to reach the top of Mount Kilimanjaro’s Uhuru Peak (on Aug 31, 2003, at the age of 70) and the oldest Malaysian to reach the top of Mount Kinabalu’s King George Peak (on Aug 29, 2004, at the age of 71).

Uhuru Peak is the highest point on Mount Kilimanjaro, which is the tallest freestanding mountain in the world (from sea level) and the tallest mountain in Africa, while King George Peak is located on the more challenging and lessclimbed Eastern Plateau of Mount Kinabalu, Sabah.

What makes these two records more significant – aside from the impressive fact that Chan only took up mountain-climbing in his sixties – is that he was suffering from a rare bone marrow disorder at the same time.

His condition, primary myelofibrosis, is one of a group of diseases called myeloproliferative neoplasms, which are caused by abnormal production of blood cells in the bone marrow.

In the case of myelofibrosis, the problem lies in the abnormally-increased production of megakaryocytes, which are the cells that directly give rise to platelets. This results in an initial increased number of platelets in the body.

Cytokines – protein growth factors that are produced by megakaryocytes – are also correspondingly increased.

And as these cytokines are what stimulate the bone marrow’s fibroblasts to produce collagen, this results in an excessive amount of collagen being made.

The collagen deposits in the bone marrow as webs of fibre – similar to scar tissue on the skin – resulting in the disease’s characteristic fibrosis of the bone marrow.

With the collagen taking up so much space in the bone marrow, regular blood cell production is disrupted.

Red blood cells (RBCs) are usually decreased in number and abnormally formed, resulting in anaemia, while white blood cells (WBCs) are abnormal and immature, resulting in increased infection rates.

With production of blood cells in the bone marrow disrupted, the spleen, which is the body’s secondary supplier of blood cells, steps up to meet the body’s needs.

This extra work usually causes the spleen to enlarge (splenomegaly), resulting in pain or a feeling of fullness below the left rib.

Occurring commonly in those above 50 years of age, myelofibrosis is caused by a spontaneous genetic mutation (i.e. not inherited) in the affected person’s blood stem cells. This is what causes the uncontrolled production of megakaryocytes.

The cause of the mutation itself in primary myelofibrosis is, as yet, unknown.

Accidental discovery

As the symptoms of myelofibrosis, like fatigue, shortness of breath, pallor, frequent infections and easy bruising, are quite vague, diagnosis can be quite difficult.

In Chan’s case, he did not notice any signs or symptoms of myelofibrosis prior to his diagnosis.

In fact, it was a combination of a road accident and his wife, Puan Sri Cecelia Chia’s sharp eyes that alerted them to the possibility of a problem.

He shares: “My son gave me a racing bike for my 60th birthday – that was 21 years ago. So, I used to cycle around. Then, I met with a road accident.”

Chan was cycling along the narrow, winding roads of his hillside residential area in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, when he suddenly met an oncoming car.

With no space to avoid the car, he braked hard and was thrown to the ground in a head-first fall.

“My helmet broke and I thought I would be paralysed. My friend, who is a doctor, straightaway rang up the hospital and they sent the ambulance,” he says.

Fortunately, Chan suffered no major injuries from the accident.

However, his cardiologist son insisted that he be checked more thoroughly for brain injuries, which resulted in him seeing a neurologist.

While his brain turned out to be fine, his wife noticed that his platelet count from the blood test were quite high – between 600,000 to 700,000 platelets per cubic millimetre, when the upper limit for normal is 400,000.

His son then sent him to consultant haematologist Dr Ng Soo Chin, who prescribed hydroxyurea to bring down his platelet count.

That seemed to work quite well for Chan, and it was, in fact, shortly after this that he began mountain-climbing with a group of fellow MBA (Masters of Business Administration) alumni from Tenaga Nasional Bhd.

Chan was then a director of the company, and had gone to Ohio University, United States, to study his MBA along with other Tenaga Nasional executives.

“So, as I climbed, I continued to take hydroxyurea and everything was normal.

“But Soo Chin said, hydroxyurea will eventually bring down your red corpuscles (another term for RBCs), and recommended anagrelide,” he says. Anagrelide is a platelet-reducing agent.

Accelerating disease

Chan continued happily with the two medications, until the year 2011, 18 years after his initial diagnosis.

By then, he was seeing consultant haematologist Datuk Dr Chang Kian Meng at Hospital Ampang, Selangor, as Dr Ng had advised him to continue his follow-ups at a public hospital as his medications are quite expensive.

Chan shares that Dr Chang started him on epoetin alfa and pegylated interferon that year as his blood cell levels were fluctuating.

While interferon decreases the production of blood cells in general, epoetin alfa stimulates the production of RBCs to counteract the effects of anaemia.

However, his haemoglobin levels dropped even further, and he started requiring blood transfusions about once every two months.

The transfusions made a big difference as he reports feeling “very energetic” after receiving the first one. (Fatigue is a common symptom of anaemia.)

The following year, it was the WBCs turn to go “completely haywire”, when a blood test revealed that they had dramatically increased to about 56 from the regular range of about 4 to 10.

He also started experiencing profuse night sweats and cramps, along with the occasional itchiness that had started in his seventies – all of which are among the symptoms of myelofibrosis.

“Then, both Dr Chang and Soo Chin agreed that I had entered into myelofibrosis in acceleration,” he says.

The only cure for myelofibrosis is a bone marrow transplant, but aside from the difficulty of finding a suitable donor and the riskiness of the procedure, Chan’s age rendered him unsuitable for such a treatment.

Fortunately for him, a new drug had recently been approved by both the European Commission and the United States Food and Drug Administration for use in myelofibrosis at that time.

A new drug

The drug, ruxolitinib, inhibits certain enzymes in the JAK pathway, which regulates blood cell production. Half of primary myelofibrosis cases are caused by mutations in the JAK genes, which results in the dysfunctional production of blood cells in the bone marrow.

However, the drug was not available in Malaysia then. (It was only launched in the Malaysian market in 2013.)

This is where his political connections as a Gerakan life member and former secretary-general came in useful.

Then Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon offered to help pass on the letter Chan had written to the Health Ministry requesting approval to use the drug on compassionate grounds, to the Health secretary-general.

Four days later, Chan received the approval he needed, and received his first dose of ruxolitinib in October 2012.

Since then, after some adjustments in dosage, Chan’s blood cells are back in the normal range and his last transfusion was in December 2013.

He is currently doing well enough for his doctor to lower his dosage of ruxolitinib, while still taking epoetin alfa and interferon.

Life goes on as normal for this active 81-year-old, who still climbs hills, reads newspapers of various languages and blogs daily, works out in the gym and does regular morning calisthenics.

Of his condition, Chan shares that he never felt the need to know about the disease, being only interested in his blood test results.

“I didn’t know what myelofibrosis was all about until I was asked to do this interview. That was the first time I went into Google to see what was myelofibrosis,” he says with a laugh.

“But I knew it was a dangerous disease, but I wasn’t bothered. I continued to carry on with my normal life.”

He adds: “I’m not bothered with what happens because I have full trust in my doctors.

By Tan shiow China The Star/ANN

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101 Ways To Live Your Life To The Fullest personalexcellence.co/blog/101-ways-to-live-your-life-to-the-fullest/  - If your answer to any of the above is a no, maybe or not sure, that means you're not living your life to the fullest.

Monday 1 December 2014

Regulating energy flow of a house with Vasthu Sastra principles


Cuts or voids in certain quadrants of a property can have negative effects on occupants.

CUTS on a piece of land or on the physical structure of a property can distort the flow of subtle energy, thereby affecting the wellbeing of the occupants of that space.

This is highlighted in Vasthu Sastra, the ancient science of architecture, which urges practitioners to build, design and renovate houses and buildings to be in harmony with their surroundings.

At my talk during The Star Property Fair at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre last Sunday, issues related to irregular shapes of land and buildings dominated questions at my presentation on Vasthu Sastra and pyramids.

Members of the audience were seeking answers as to why they were facing challenges after moving into properties that were not square or rectangular in shape.

The space we occupy, whether permanent or temporary, is actually a representation of a miniature Earth and we must be in harmony with the energies that govern the space to enjoy favourable health, peace, happiness and prosperity.

According to Vasthu principles, the eight compass directions of each property are governed by a planet that has specific influences on the occupants’ health, mood and welfare.

What is vital here is to prevent defects like cuts and extensions in these quadrants because the outcome will be adverse.

The north is ruled by Jupiter and if a property has a void in this quadrant, the occupants will not enjoy good fortune, incurring more expenditure than they receive income.

This is because the powerful planet is associated with prosperity, foreign travel and merrymaking.

North-east is associated with Mercury, which controls the education, spirituality, communication and growth of any individual. A defect in this sacred sector will hinder growth and success.

East is ruled by Venus and disruptions here will impede the dwellers’ beauty, comfort and affection towards people.
 
1. Vasthu Master Yuvaraj Sowma (right) performing a Vasthu yantra ceremony to correct the irregular shape of a plot of land.
2.Vasthu Master Yuvaraj Sowma (right) performing a Vasthu yantra ceremony to correct the irregular shape of a plot of land. Vasthu Master Yuvaraj Sowma (right) performing a Vasthu yantra ceremony to correct the irregular shape of a plot of land.

Master Yuvaraj placing a Vasthu yantra on one of the eight corners of a piece of land to correct defective energy flow.

South-east is associated with the Moon which is linked with mood and emotions, and any shortcomings in this sector will result in the occupants having a disturbed character and difficulty in getting along with people.

South is ruled by the aggressive planet Mars and its characteristics are related to the muscular system. Faults in this quadrant can lead to occupants experiencing hypertension and longevity issues.

South-west, a powerful quadrant in Vasthu for married couples, is associated with relationships and is influenced by the celestial planet Rahu (dragon head).

A cut in this area will disrupt the conjugal relationship and passionate impulse that should be enjoyed by the husband and wife.

West is controlled by Saturn and a missing quadrant here will result in the dwellers experiencing financial hardship, and an increased likelihood of bone and bladder problems.

Kethu (dragon head) is responsible for liberation and any imperfection in the north-west sector will upset wisdom and give rise to respiratory problems.

According to my 7th generation Vasthu master Yuvaraj Sowma, the defects can be corrected by acquiring the missing space or realigning the land or structure to make them a perfect shape.

People should be careful when acquiring a property and should avoid irregular-shaped properties because it can sometimes be challenging to bring them into a rectangular or square shape.

For land and buildings that cannot be corrected physically, master Yuvaraj suggested the use of the ancient Vasthu yantra remedy which involves the placement of eight mystical silver diagrams in the eight corners of the property.

The sacred object has the power to negate the inauspicious effects of Vasthu faults in a property.

The rectification ceremony is to appease the planets with the vibrations of the energised objects that have similar qualities to chanted mantras – that is, to restore balance to the energy of a location.

This can be done before construction of the property to correct the irregular land shape, or after occupants have moved in to rectify the structural defects in the respective corners.

Its purpose, says master Yuvaraj, is to regulate the positive vibrations in the living space by Vasthu yantra, which are buried under the soil.

Vasthu yantra have the power to regulate the positive vibrations in a living space by overcoming malefic effects, thereby giving the residents peace, happiness, good health, improved fortune and spiritual development.

TSelvaT. Selva is the author of the Vasthu Sastra Guide and the first disciple of 7th generation Vasthu Sastra master YuvaViewpoints -Ancient Secrets by T. Selva

Vasthu Sastra talks

T. Selva will present a talk on 2015 astrology forecast and Vasthu Sastra for health, peace and prosperity on Jan 3 at 7.30pm at Shirdi Sai Baba Centre, 10 Jalan Trus, Johor Baru. A similar session will be held on Jan 10 at Shirdi Sai Baba Centre at 27 Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. Admission is free. To register, call 012-329 9713.

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Everyone’s name contains positive or negative vibes, based on the combination of letters in it. Pronology offers an understanding of th...

Monday 28 July 2014

Your name is your fortune

Everyone’s name contains positive or negative vibes, based on the combination of letters in it.


AN individual’s character, prosperity, fame and good health depend on how his or her name is pronounced.

According to the sciences of pronology and numerology, we can improve our lives and minimise troubles if we make certain changes to our name as per the rules of this ancient knowledge.

Pronology analyses sound vibrations in a name while numerology deals with numerical values of each letter assigned to the name.

Making modifications to your name can change your fate, stresses renowned numerologist Alaghar Vijaay from Chennai, India.

He says that when a name is given to a newborn child, it is vital for the date of birth to be “added”, based on numerology principles, to give the most auspicious sound to the infant’s name.

I recently met Vijaay, who has authored 21 books on ancient secrets, to get a better understanding on the phonetic impact and hidden secrets of names.

People facing challenges in the areas of health, relationship and prosperity, or obstacles in life, should check on how their name is pronounced.

This is no laughing matter because our name carries a power that can determine our destiny, says Vijaay, an engineer by training.

There are 26 letters in the English language and each has a special wavelength, colour and characteristic.

Take, for example, the letters O and N appearing together in a name. The numerological value of O is 6 and that of N is 5. The sum of the two is 11, whether the letters occur as “ON” or “NO”.

But ON denotes forward movement and positive action, whereas NO has a negative connotation and failure.


Vijaay says pronology offers an understanding of both the forces that may occur in a name and gives people an opportunity to act accordingly to remove the ill effects and increase the beneficial values.

For example, he said, names containing the sounds “dhi”, “dy” or “di” could benefit from some modification because those vowels represent something related to demise.

Our name is like a mantra. When it is repeated like a chant it vibrates a certain sound which exerts an influence on the cells in our body.

This may produce auspicious or inauspicious results.

In his book entitled Pronology, Vijaay explains that when two letters are combined, their separate wavelengths meet and generate a sound that can be positive or negative.

For instance, he says, when the letters A and P are paired it will produce a sound like “APE”, and an individual having such letters in his or her name will have ape-like characteristics.

Where the letters K and L are joined, it sounds like “KILL” and those with this component in their name will face trials and struggles.

When the letters are reversed from KL to LK, the sound “LIKE” is generated and this vibration will boost their energy, allowing them to enjoy peace and happiness.

When the sounds “Han” or “Khan” occur in a name, the person gets an enhanced sense of self-confidence and a strong desire to achieve their goals in life.

Hindi stars Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan are some of the living examples of success and fame owing to such names.

Other favourable names are Kartik, Ayappan, Raman, Mahalingam, Selvan, Aravin, Barath, Praveen, Ashvin, Jayakumar, Uthayakumar, Velu, Murugan, Vishnu, Ganapathy, Ramakrishnan, Ashvin, Rajen and Rajakumar,

Women having vibrant-sounding names can be assured of a happy, peaceful and comfortable life.

Those having names with pleasant sound combinations like Vijaya, Preethi, Anujaya, Jeyashri, Karisma, Rajaletchumi, Abarami, Gyathri, Jeya and Ragavi will generally enjoy peace and comfort and get good-natured husbands. Names like Vimala, Kamala, Mala, Nirmala, and Malathi will be dominating and they will have the skills to earn as much as or more than their husbands.


To attract positive vibrations into a name, an individual should add letter combinations such as UD, ON, RUN, GAIN, VIN, VIND, ARARS, AN, GA, VN, NS and RS.

Avoid letter combinations like SAD, LOSS, SAT, DOWN, NO, LESS, ILL, NA, NE, LO, SK, VK, KK and KL.

Some examples of positive names: Abdul, Rahim, Hassan, Halim, Rashid, Jaffar, Yassin, Zaid, Karim and Azar, Faroz, Arshad; Kuan, Tong, Man, Wong, Liang, Shing, Chin, Fatt, Yee, Sing: Richard, Henry, Clinton, Albert, Robert, Anthony, Winston, Johnson, Angela, Amy, Angeline, Betty, Jacquiline, Rebecca and Rita.

To increase the power of a favourable name, Vijaay suggests that people should write their name in red ink and capital letters 108 times daily on a white sheet of paper.

Another exercise is to enunciate their name as many times as possible in front of a mirror for a minimum of 48 days.

Such acts can also be performed while bathing, driving and combing your hair, and can stimulate the results to take effect immediately.

To further invoke the power of your name, take a rectangular card and write it down 27 times in red ink.

The name card should be read out loud at least nine times and placed under the pillow.

If the above exercises are done consciously for 180 days continuously, an individual can expect to see the desired result in his or her life within this period.

Whether you place a new letter to enhance your name or remove one to correct any ill effects, what is vital here is for the exercise to be done with absolute faith and utmost respect in expectation of the desired results.

Vasthu Sastra Talk

T. Selva will present a talk on how to choose an auspicious property and energise a house using pyramids at The Star Property Fair today at 11.30am at G Hotel, Jalan Gurney, Penang. Admission is free; to register, call 012-329 9713.

T. Selva, senior consulting editor at The Star, is the first disciple of 7th-generation Vasthu Sastra master Yuvaraj Sowma from Chennai, India. This column appears on the last Sunday of every month.


Sources: Ancient Secrets T.Selva

T. Selva is the author of the Vasthu Sastra Guide and the first disciple of 7th generation Vasthu Sastra master Yuvaraj Sowma from Chennai, India.
tselvas@thestar.com.my