a fleeting stay ...

A New York Times ' article on older Japanese workers marginalising their younger colleagues underlines how little the old understand the young. It is a biting commentary on older generations hanging on to their vested interests at the expense of their young's professional development. Young Japanese workers are frustrated but are stumped by what to do about it. They need to find an outlet for their many talents and interests. Some young Japanese have not only quit their jobs -- after a period of trying to gain acceptance -- but left their country as well. The phenomenon is not peculiar to Japan. At a certain publishing company in Malaysia you will hear a similar story. Top executives are reluctant to promote promising thirty-somethings to decision-making positions for reasons best known to themselves. An enlightened top-level executive may want to act on his middle manager's suggestion to move a bright young staff member to a higher rank but he will need all t...

Picture shows the English translation of the novel Interlok . The Malaysian government finally reached a decision about the adoption of an abridged edition of Datuk Abdullah Hussain's novel Interlok as a text for the literature component in the subject Bahasa Malaysia for fifth-formers. Students will be allowed to read it but not before some amendments. That means removing the bits that hurt the ethnic sensibilities of the Indian community. The result arrived at after heated debate was entirely predictable. The Prime Minister is likely to call an election this year. And the announcement to end the Interlok impasse with a "formula that everyone can agree on" is seen by some as an attempt to appease the ruling government's constituents. See below for details of the decision as reported by Bernama. Interlok stays, but with amendments: Muhyiddin By: (Thu, 27 Jan 2011) KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 27, 2011): The novel Interlok will remain as the textbook for th...

The move to adopt Datuk Abdullah Hussain 's novel Interlok as a Malay Literature text for Form Five students has aroused a heated debate over its suitability. Copies of the abridged edition of the novel ( see picture above ) were distributed to schools in Selangor, Negri Sembilan and the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya before the start of the new school year. But the books have been temporarily put aside pending the Cabinet's decision on the matter. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak wants more discussions about whether the novel should be included on the reading list. The idea is to find a solution that everyone can agree on. Teachers and students, meanwhile, are getting restless and they want the Education Ministry to come to a decision about what to do next by tomorrow. It is an exam year for the fifth-formers and they hope the decision-makers realise that. Click here for more.

Facebook users in Malaysia readily accept "friendship" requests from strangers, says criminologist and Malaysian Association of Certified Fraud Examiners president Datuk Akhbar Satar. Malaysians should think twice about approving appeals for friendship from people they do not know, he says. Many feel good when they suddenly become "popular" as indicated by the numerous applications. They reveal a lot of themselves such as birth dates, addresses, telephone numbers and alluring photos to the so-called Facebook friends who now have access to these details which are found on the users' profile pages. They are particularly vulnerable to all kinds of abuse. Trusting Facebook users are everywhere. A friend from the Philippines recently picked up a message on Facebook from a man who wanted to be her friend. He told her that he was attracted to her profile picture on Facebook and pestered her with messages for more than a month. He began to wax lyrical abo...

I am terrified of dogs. I was bitten by a dog once and I have been afraid of them ever since. Whenever I am near a dog, I would edge nervously past it. I try to avoid visiting homes which keep dogs. It is no good telling me that dogs are adorable or that they make faithful friends. All I see is a dog baring its teeth and growling. I relived the horror of being bitten on Monday (January 10, 2011) morning when I read a report in the New Straits Times about two mongrels attacking an Irish tourist, Maurice Sullivan, to death at an organic farm in Teluk Bahang, Penang . Sullivan, 50, and his companion Agnieszka Izabela, 28, had arrived at the durian farm on Saturday (January 8, 2011) as volunteer helpers. The idea was to stay on the farm and help around for an average of four hours a day in exchange for food and accommodation. Sullivan was fatally mauled by the dogs sometime on Sunday when he and Izabela were leaving Joseph Teoh's -- the farm owner -- house which was situated o...

Words of wisdom. Why do some think that they are preserve of philosophers or wise old men? Everyone has an opinion worth listening to. I am reminded of this time and time again. I had an interesting conversation with a colleague early this week. It was on the morning of January 3, the first working day of the brand new year. I was in the office canteen and said hello to a colleague. We exchanged greetings and proceeded to select our food items at the breakfast buffet. As luck would have it, we ended up sharing a table. Our conversation turned to our personal and professional aspirations. I discovered that Kulwant is studying for a teaching degree on a part-time basis. Her enthusiasm drew me in. Her commitment to her studies is inspiring. She describes it as "journey" -- to a whole new world. She is excited about the prospect of discovering new things and improving herself. She talked about her love of the English language and her desire to master it. Words and mor...

You've no idea how hard I've looked for a gift to bring You. Nothing seemed right. What's the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or water to the Ocean. Everything I came up with was like taking spices to the Orient. It's no good giving my heart and my soul because you already have these. So- I've brought you a mirror. Look at yourself and remember me. Jalaluddin Rumi said it all.   That's her in the mirror. The face is the mirror of the soul.  She sees joy, despair, hope, doubt. This is the end of another year in her life. A time to reflect and express her emotions. Love, forgiveness, healing and trust dominate all kinds of thoughts. She did many things right but she wavered too. Listen to your inner voice. Pressure? Deal with it! Quiet successes inspire her with confidence. Failures provide just the spur she needs. As she looks back on the past year, she is grateful that she got through it. Rumi, thank you for your gift!

Life's Too Short wishes its Christian readers Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

A young worker helping with sales at his father's accessories stand at the Jelatek night market, which is close to the city centre in Kuala Lumpur. There is a clear line between engaging young workers to do light duties and exploiting them. Youngsters who help their parents to manage makeshift stalls at the side of roads or night markets are learning about the real world and in the process acquire skills which might come in handy. The abuse begins when they become the sole breadwinners or carry out “difficult, dangerous and dirty” (3D) jobs to supplement their family incomes. That is the message from union leaders and the head of an employers’ organisation in Peninsular Malaysia. The issue of working youngsters came under the spotlight when Parliament recently passed the Bill of the Children and Young Persons (Employment) (Amendment) Act 2010 which seeks to change the current legislation, 13 years after Malaysia ratified the Minimum Age Convention (C138). Click here for...

Professor Datuk Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, Professor Dr Lai-Meng Looi and Professor Tan Sri Mohd Kamal Hassan. These three scholars have earned their places in the history books when they were named Malaysia's first Distinguished Professors recently. Read about them here: Distinguished Professor Datuk Shamsul Amri Baharuddin Distinguished Professor Dr Lai-Meng Looi Distinguished Professor Tan Sri Mohd Kamal Hassan Background Criteria  

The following article makes for interesting reading on a dry Sunday : Sodomy charges were a set-up

There are 19 days until Christmas and New Sunday Times contributor Dr Koh Soo Ling is feeling Christmassy! She knows that successful gatherings need good planning and preparation for her first Christmas in Ireland started early. In addition to the traditional decorations and tree, she will be introducing Malaysian cuisine on the Christmas table. I asked her to describe her Irish Christmas "fever" and this is her reply via email. See below for a new poem from the pen of Soo Ling: Wintry Charm.  If you are meeting Soo Ling for the first time, read about her here. "My freezer (Mat Sallehs have this very serious business about having an extra freezer in the shed) is stocked up with Christmas game and frozen food, my windows and two fireplaces are decorated and I'm expecting two Malaysians to come over and stay during the Christmas season.  "So I will dish out turkey, cranberry sauce as well as ketupat (bought earlier from Malaysia, so just throw into boi...

The ETS intercity makes life easy for those who have to travel to Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur and Seremban regularly. The ETS (which stands for Electric Train Services) intercity is another indication that Malaysians love travelling by train.  Since its launch on August 12, this year more and more people are catching the train to Ipoh-Kuala Lumpur-Seremban.  That is the observation of an Ipoh-based  KTM employee who declined to be named.  The Kuala Lumpur-Ipoh service is popular with professionals especially lawyers, he says.  They get on the early morning train from Kuala Lumpur and arrive in Ipoh in time for their court cases, he adds.  Some Ipoh residents who work in Kuala Lumpur are contemplating commuting between their hometown and Malaysia's capital city. The seats are comfortable and there is legroom in the front of the seat. I took the ETS from Kuala Lumpur to Ipoh recently and understood instantly why my relatives and friends are p...

Passengers expect good Internet access while travelling. This facility for charging cell phones is a boon to passengers. I have a quick question for the managment of Electric Train Service (ETS) . When will passengers, who board the ETS intercity train at the Kuala Lumpur Old Station, have access to the Internet? Passengers especially mobile office professionals expect good Internet access while travelling and waiting at railway stations. I wonder what the two computers -- visibly placed next to the cell phone charger area (opposite the ticketing counter) -- are for? Since its launch on August 12 (2010) the Ipoh-Kuala Lumpur-Seremban route is gaining popularity among locals and foreigners. This is an opportunity to enhance the reputation of your service.

Azwanddin Hamzah making a point at the peaceful protest in Bangsar this afternoon. Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM) wants local news portal Malaysian Insider to vanish off the face of the earth -- and plans to hold regular peaceful protests to drive its point home. "Malaysian Insider has betrayed Malaysia and its people," says JMM head Azwanddin Hamzah. He was referring to, among other things, the news portal's relationship with Indonesian nationalist group Bendera. "I have the documents to prove it," says Azwanddin, adding that he had passed them on to the police for action. JMM is also upset about Malaysian Insider's recent reports which it said "insulted the Sultans and Malay royalty". Azwanddin said this after JMM had staged a 30-minute peaceful protest against the conduct of the news portal this afternoon. The group had chosen the premises of the LRT station in Bangsar as the venue for the public meeting. Many commuters lin...

I met her in Ipoh -- my hometown -- when she begged for money two years ago. Nini -- my niece in Ipoh -- called me a minute ago to say that she had died. She had been infected with HIV for many years but the details of her death are sketchy. I, like many in Ipoh, don't know her name. She had approached me at the Central Market in Ipoh on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr in 2008 and asked for money. I gave her RM20; she thanked me profusely and went away. That was my first and last encounter with her. She was a beauty in her teens but her tragic life turned her into a demented soul, by all accounts. Apparently she was raped repeatedly as a teenager. Some allege that the perpetrator of the crime was her father; it is unclear whether he was her biological father or stepfather. The disappointments and betrayals in her life later forced her into prostitution. It appeared that everything had conspired to make her life a misery. I don't know if she had sought medical help...

Did curiosity kill the cat? It appears that the Union of Concerned Scientists does not believe that to be true. Instead, it argues for "scientific curiosity" because that "is the key to solving our world's most crucial environmental, health and security problems -- such as global warming". The grouping of scientists accuses those with "a vested interest in denying global warming" of "trying to kill the public's curiosity and thus squelch the truth". "Scientists are curious for life," states the Union and it pleads the cause of supporting curiosity and urges us to start by being members of the grouping.  We should take a leaf from Union's book. "Curiosity killed the cat" is an idiom meaning to tell somebody not to ask questions or try to find out about things that do not concern them. That is appropriate for personal affairs but in all other matters we, like the children in our midst, should show c...

Professor Shamsul Amri Baharuddin People who do not use Facebook fall into three broad categories. The first group is completely indifferent to it, the second finds it mildly irritating and the third dislikes it intensely. Malaysia's prominent sociologist Professor Shamsul Amri Baharuddin is of the last type. I made the mistake of asking Shamsul, who is director of the Institute of Ethnic Studies at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, if he was on Facebook, the social network which was hatched up in the dormitories of Harvard six years ago. "I have a face and I keep thousands of books. Why do I need Facebook?" How do you react to that reply? I didn't. I meekly invited him to elaborate on his reasons. "Facebook will take away my soul and I won't allow that to happen because I am a believer," says Shamsul fiercely, who launched into a tirade of accusations against Facebook. Ninety per cent of the things you read on Facebook are either p...

The Malaysian Open House is a tradition that is likely to continue for a very long time. It has been non-stop feasting for many Malaysian Muslims as they continue to manage or visit open houses during the month of Shawwal which began on September 10. Many have expressed admiration for this "unique and peculiar Malaysia tradition". The Malaysian open house or rumah terbuka (in the Malay language) is mostly held during major festivals such as Eid-ul-Fitr, Diwali, Christmas, Chinese New Year and Hari Gawai, among others. It is the season to welcome relatives, friends, colleagues and sometimes strangers from the different ethnic groups into their homes. The activity creates goodwill and may lead to friendship for some people. While I like the idea of an open house, and by extension an open heart (because that is what the gesture implies), I find the sort organised by corporations a little impersonal. I prefer small gatherings of family and close friends. I am act...