UTM – The Creator of Creative and Innovative Minds

(Photos by Zuber, Corporate Communication)

Today, July 14, I must pay tribute to Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), especially its Vice Chancellor, Prof Datuk Dr Zaini Ujang for sharing with Bernama senior management its successes, breakthroughs and its expertise in a wide range of fields, especially in creative technology.

As the name suggests, technology is its forte, and the university, which aspires to be a renowned technological research university, does not want to let its precious research go to waste and remains stored in the laboratories, so-to-speak.

Over the years, the university has made major technological breakthroughs, but not much is known by the public at large. And UTM under Zaini’s leadership wants to change all that and is going all out to promote the university.

Today, he brought along some of his executive committee members to Bernama. At a briefing by Bernama General Manager, Hasnul Hassan, Zaini also shared with us some of its success stories.

Not many people know that Upin & Ipin is the creative product of UTM.

Upin & Ipin is an animation series about two 5-year-old twins, Upin and Ipin telling their first experience fasting for the first time in the month of Ramadan. The story is told in a simple, comical and hilarious way.

Although the series is tailored for the fasting month, it is also suitable to be shown all year round as it has educational and moral values for children.

The man behind the success of the animation series and 3D film is Managing Director of Les’ Copaque Production Sdn Bhd, Burhanuddin Md Radzi who tapped the ideas of some of the young brains from the university who were final year students at the UTM.

Burhanuddin, who had no background in the film and animation field, took the risks by producing the series and the first 3D animation film in Malaysia.

He majored in petroleum and natural gas engineering from the university and has served as an engineer in the national oil corporation, Petronas for 10 years.

His wife, Ainon Ariff is also the driving force behind this creative venture, when she expressed her interest in producing a film. She had earlier been inspired by her friend, whose son had at that time, just completed his studies at the Universiti Multimedia Malaysia (MMU).

Three MMU graduates involved in this project are Mohd Nizam Abd Razak, Mohd Safwan Ab Karim and Muhammad Usamah Zain Yasin, who now form the backbone of Les’ Copaque, holding key positions as executive director, art director and creative director respectively.

Upin & Ipin or Burhanuddin is not the only success story of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, whose slogan is ‘Inspiring Creative & Innovative Minds’.

It has also produced experts in security systems and games technology. Other breakthroughs include producing enzymes which can convert tapioca and sago into high value product for use in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and food industries.

The brains behind this product, known as CGTase, is Prof Dr Rosli Md Illias, who undertook 10 years of research. He embarked on the research through a RM400,000 fund from the Malaysian Genome Institute with the cooperation of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (UPM).

At 41, Dr Rosli is the youngest professor at the university.

Najib's Basket of Goodies For The People

A basket of goodies was unveiled by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak last Saturday to mark his 100th day in office as prime minister.

Call it a mini budget, Najib certainly won the hearts and minds of the people, judging from the thunderous applause from the thousands of people who gathered to listen to his speech at three halls at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

Criticisms are aplenty too, with some saying that his 11 goodies are not new. What's important is he has delivered his message of reaching out to the people.

Before unveiling the good news, he shared with the audience, his walkabout or 'Tinjauan Mesra' with the people, including flat residents and petty traders at Petaling Street.

It is based on the feedback from the people that he decided to announce these good news on his 100th day in office.

"If I was populist, I would have announced it all on my first day . But I took time to gather the input from the people," he said in an interview over RTM.

Najib, who is also Finance Minister, focused on the economy and his leadership style when he first took over office as the country's leader.

With the economy set to contract by between -4.0 percent and -5.0 percent this year, Najib unveiled a slew of economic and financial measures and two stimulus packages worth RM67 billion.

These are the 11 goodies for the people:

1. A 20 per cent discount for users of the pre-paid Smart Tag and Touch n Go cards who pay toll 80 times or more in a month.
2. The government offer for sale of 44,000 units of public housing to people renting these premises in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur.
3. A 50 per cent discount on the licence renewal fee for hawkers and petty traders in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur with immediate effect.
4. The government's raising by 3,000 the number of taxi permits, the applications for which will be approved over the next three months.
5. The introduction of drastic measures to reduce crime and fight corruption.
6. Facilitating applications for registration of births in Sabah and Sarawak.
7. Construction of additional roads in Sabah and Sarawak.
8. Upgrading of water and electricity supply in Sabah and Sarawak.
9. Reduction to RM211 the fee for learning to ride Class B2 motorcycles of 250cc and below, beginning Sept 1.
10. Increasing by RM150 million the allocation for Tekun Nasional, with RM15 million to be made available for young entrepreneurs from the Indian community.
11. Introduction of the new Amanah Saham 1Malaysia (1Malaysia Unit Trust) with a size of 10 billion units.

Google’s Top 10 Searches in Malaysia

Here’s the list of the Top 10 Google Searches July 3-July 9 (NST):

1 Real Madrid – Malaysians join football fans in Madrid to welcome Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

2 Michael Jackson Memorial – The King of Pop’s memorial service on Tuesday drew Malaysians to the Net in search of the plans and live videos.

3 PPSMI – The hot issue of teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics in English drew Netizens online to voice their opinions.

4 aimsweb – The official Web site for Universiti Teknologi Malaysia was updated with announcements on student intake and academic schedules for 2009/10.

5 UUM – Universiti Utara Malaysia opened its online application for admission into higher learning institution programmes for STPM holders for the next academic year.

6 Manohara – The young model who married the Kelantanese prince hits the limelight again as the court case demanding the return of nearly RM1 million by Tengku Temenggong Muhammad Fakhry Sultan Ismail Petra commences on August 2.

7 1Malaysia – The 1Malaysia concept mooted by the Prime Minister has been getting the thumbs-up with activities such as forums, carnivals and photo competitions to set the tone.

8 BSN – Bukit Bintang Umno division chief Datuk Seri Abdul Azim Zabidi steps down as Bank Simpanan Nasional chairman to comply with Bank Negara Malaysia guidelines.

9 Photofunia – More Malaysians are checking out this latest online photo effects software.

10 TNB – Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Peter Chin’s hint of an upcoming hike in the electricity tariff has led Malaysians online to search for more information.

1TEAM 1DREAM 1BERNAMA

BERNAMA , under the stewardship of its newly appointed General Manager Hasnul Hassan, has recently unveiled a new slogan 1TEAM 1DREAM 1BERNAMA to inculcate unity, teamwork and team spirit among its employees.

Hasnul brings with him a wealth of experience from the corporate sector, and since taking over the helm early this year, things are really moving in Bernama, especially at the marketing department.

He has recently appointed a National Sales Team Manager to generate more sales for Bernama’s products and services. This slogan 1TEAM 1DREAM 1BERNAMA was mooted by this new unit.

Hasnul has also introduced an Ambassador Programme to provide incentives for staff who can bring in business for Bernama. He personally persuades his friends from the private sector to subscribe to Bernama’s products and services.

He has set up a committee which has so far implemented some cost cutting measures. The results have so far been positive.

Hasnul is also leading the management team to move forward the proposed restructure plan for Bernama.

Since inception, Bernama, a statutory body under the Ministry of Information Communication and Culture, has not undertaken a major restructuring exercise. The Bernama management has made a presentation on the reorganisation of the news agency before the ministry's Secretary General Datuk Kamaruddin Siaraf recently.

Lots of good news are in store for the staff once the plan gets the ok from the Public Service Department. Datuk Kamaruddin will lead the team from the ministry for a presentation before the PSD, possibly within the next few months.

Bernama, the Malaysian National News Agency is now 42 years old. Since then, it has ventured into the broadcasting world, with Radio24Bernama and Bernama TV on Astro 502.

Back to the 1TEAM 1DREAM 1BERNAMA campaign, a Treasure Hunt was held last week that drew participation from 70 staff.

What’s unique about the hunt is that the one hour event was held under One Roof – Wisma Bernama, to promote the spirit of oneness among the staff. Among the conditions for this hunt – each team must be multi racial, comprising both men and women.

Congratulations to the winning team from our ICT subsidiary, BESSAR: They had all the criteria.

But above all, everyone enjoyed the hunt!.

Use Blogs Wisely, Your Boss Is Watching You!

The blogging community in Malaysia has grown over the years, with the number reaching nearly 12.1 million, according to search engine, Google.

A good majority are personal blogs – more of an online diary so-to-speak.

According to unofficial figures, there are 50 top bloggers in the country, with 28 per cent writing about personal stuff. Some 16 per cent are about politics, another 16 per cent on technology, with the rest on a variety of subjects.

For those who write on personal stuff or other issues, don’t use your weblog to vent your anger at your boss or your employer, as doing so will land you in jail!.

In what is seen as a landmark case, a former Eon Bank Bhd employee was fined RM8,000 in default two months’ jail by the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur on July 7.

He admitted posting obscene comments in his blog to embarrass his former department head.

The offence under the Communication and Multimedia Act carries a maximum
RM50,000 fine or one year's jail, or both, on conviction.

Bloggers Return To The Mainstream

In what is seen as a positive sign for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s leadership, bloggers are going back to the mainstream, with Datuk Ahmad Talib, who runs the ‘Pahit Manis’blog, taking the lead, with his appointment as Executive Director of Media Prima Bhd last month.

Media Prima, the largest media group in Malaysia, owns the New Straits Times Press (NSTP), TV3, TV7, TV8 and TV9 . As owner of NSTP, it also controls English newspapers like the New Straits Times and the Malay Mail and Malay newspapers such as Berita Harian and Harian Metro.

Popular blogger Ahirudin ‘Rockybru’ Attan is also back at the NST, with his appointment as head of the Malay Mail. During his first meeting with his staff, he has asked them to buy a pair of jeans.

Rocky’s reason:”We are going to promote free press, but like jeans and everything else in life, there are limits to what we can do.” (That, I must agree with you bro! Nothing is FREE in this world. About wearing jeans, I have my reservations!).

Start a Blog: Good idea!

NSTP has also announced the appointment of another blogger Nuraina Samad as Managing Editor, a post once held by her late father, A. Samad Ismail.

According to Rocky’s Bru, Nuraina is now the newspaper’s most senior editor after Zainul Arifin, the Group Managing Editor of NSTP and Syed Nadzri, the Group Editor.

Congratulations Nuraina, we are all proud of you. It is a welcome change, given that you are the first woman to hold this top editorial post in the NST.

Also taking the same route is Ashraf Abdullah, who runs the blog Jejak Pujangga. He has been appointed TV3 Group Editor, a new post created under Ahmad Talib.

Congratulations also go to another blogger, Fauziah Ismail, who is now Chief News Editor of NST. She has a blog titled 'Latte @ Chinoz On The Park'.

Now that bloggers are back in the mainstream, will they make a difference?

Drink Water on Empty Stomach

(This was emailed to me recently).

It is popular in Japan today to drink water immediately after waking up every morning. Furthermore, scientific tests have proven its value.

For old and serious diseases as well as modern illnesses the water treatment had been found successful by a Japanese medical society as a 100% cure for the following diseases:
Headache, body ache, heart system, arthritis, fast heart beat, epilepsy, excess fatness, bronchitis asthma, TB, meningitis, kidney and urine diseases, vomiting, gastritis, diarrhea, piles, diabetes, constipation, all eye diseases, womb, cancer and menstrual disorders, ear nose and throat diseases.

METHOD OF TREATMENT
1. As you wake up in the morning before brushing teeth, drink 4 x 160ml glasses of water
2. Brush and clean the mouth but do not eat or drink anything for 45 minute
3. After 45 minutes you may eat and drink as normal.
4. After 15 minutes of breakfast, lunch and dinner do not eat or drink anything for 2 hours
5. Those who are old or sick and are unable to drink 4 glasses of water at the beginning may commence by taking little water and gradually increase it to 4 glasses per day.
6. The above method of treatment will cure diseases of the sick and others can enjoy a healthy life.

treatment required to cure/control/reduce main diseases:

1. High Blood Pressure (30 days)

2. Gastric (10 days)

3. Diabetes (30 days)

4. Constipation (10 days)

5. Cancer (180 days)

6. TB (90 days)

7. Arthritis patients should follow the above treatment only for 3 days in the 1st week, and from 2nd week onwards – daily.

This treatment method has no side effects, however at the commencement of treatment you may have to urinate a few times.

It is better if we continue this and make this procedure as a routine work in our life. Drink Water and Stay healthy and Active.

This makes sense .. The Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals ..not cold water. Maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating!

!! Nothing to lose, everything to gain...

For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you.
It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion.

Once this 'sludge' reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine.
Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.

A serious note about heart attacks:

· Women should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting,

· Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line.

· You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack.

· Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms

60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up.

· Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better chance we could survive...