Skip to content

January 2020

Outbreak 2020: Novel Coronavirus Situation As At 30th January 2020

virus

The 2019-nCoV virus situation as at 30th January 2020: 171 dead, 143 recovered and 8,236 confirmed cases (the latest statistics – 213 dead and 9,480 confirmed cases).

Compared to 28th January 2020, the fatality rate as at 30th January 2020 had reduced from 2.18% to 2.07% which is good but then again, the recovery rate had also reduced from 1.82% to 1.74%. However if one is using the latest update, the fatality rate has increased to 2.24%. Image source: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering

Read More »Outbreak 2020: Novel Coronavirus Situation As At 30th January 2020

Changing Times: 1970s Kids vs 2000s Kids Part 2

kids

Continuing from Part 1, things have certainly changed on the aspect of & how kids behave once we have passed the new . In the age of information, the conventional method of parenting had altered to a large extent. Infographic source: www.pinterest.com

Read More »Changing Times: 1970s Kids vs 2000s Kids Part 2

Outbreak 2020: Novel Coronavirus Situation As At 28th January 2020

Novel Corona Virus

An almost real time virus dashboard of the 2019-nCoV as at 28th January 2020 – 132 dead, 110 “recovered” and 6,057 confirmed cases worldwide. Image source: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering

Read More »Outbreak 2020: Novel Coronavirus Situation As At 28th January 2020

Civil Service 2020: Anil Swarup’s Making Things Happen in the Government

Anil Swarup

(“In the coal sector, the mining is underground and the Mafia is above ground. In the education sector, it is the other way round” – . Image source: www.edexlive.com)

This is an interesting presentation titled “Making Things Happen in the Government” by Mr Anil Swarup is a retired Indian Administrative Service () officer of Uttar Pradesh and who in his 38 years of career has served in various capacities which included Secretary of School Education of India.

Read More »Civil Service 2020: Anil Swarup’s Making Things Happen in the Government

Changing Times: 1970s Kids vs 2000s Kids Part 1

kids

For those were born in the , the best years of their lives (other than when your kids were born) would have been the 1980s, the year when we started schooling and also the year when we had the best music made – both Western and Tamil. Poster source: www.wrockshop.eu.

Read More »Changing Times: 1970s Kids vs 2000s Kids Part 1

Outbreak Alert 2020: Wuhan Virus Spreads from Human to Human

virus

which originated from Wuhan, China has pneumonia-like symptoms including fever and difficulty breathing, has already spread to Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, as well as South Korea, Thailand, and Japan. 6 people have died todate. Infographic source: www.channelnewsasia.com

Read More »Outbreak Alert 2020: Wuhan Virus Spreads from Human to Human

Extension of PLUS Concession to Year 2058: Doing the Maths

touch n go plus

I don’t use highways on daily basis but when it comes to taking week long drive to the in-laws house or going for holidays, we have no choice but to use PLUS highways for the trip up North or South (rarely we go off to the East Coast unless there are very important family functions or to do crazy thing like this trip). Image source: Compare Hero.my

Read More »Extension of PLUS Concession to Year 2058: Doing the Maths

Movie Review 101: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 2019

star wars

Probably no thanks to the bad reviews (or not), we had been setting aside the urge to watch this third instalment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy which incidentally also is the final episode of the nine-part “Skywalker saga” as soon as it comes to the cinemas. Poster source: www.starwars.com.

Read More »Movie Review 101: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 2019

Outbreak Alert 2020: H1N1 on the Prowl Again

H1N1

created havoc in 2009 with 78 deaths in Malaysia. Why it is making a comeback after 10 years? Image of H1N1 virus – source: Wikipedia.

I woke up this morning reading breaking news that 7 years old child in Johore had died due to like illness and this was after she was initially tested negative for H1N1. It was shocking, scary and a tragedy indeed.

Read More »Outbreak Alert 2020: H1N1 on the Prowl Again

Education Malaysia 2020: 23 Reasons for Rejecting Teaching Science & Mathematics in English

Education

This will be the last post on education system moving forward in 2020 (at least for the first quarter of this year). By the way, it is still early to say that Dr M taking charge of the Education Ministry is a good thing or not. After all, he already had his hands full as the Prime Minister, running the whole country.

Talking about the education system, I wrote this post almost 10 years ago on teaching Science & Mathematics in English. It did not make any sense then; it does not make any sense now. There were 23 so-called arguments put forward by some NGO back in 2009 and it is in Bahasa Malaysia (note: PPSMI means Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik Dalam Bahasa Inggeris which loosely translated as Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English).

Read More »Education Malaysia 2020: 23 Reasons for Rejecting Teaching Science & Mathematics in English

Education Malaysia 2020: Bakri Musa’s Advice For The Minister of Education

education

Yup, I am still on the topic of Education in Malaysia – this probably would be my last 2 posts on the topic before I move on to some other topics. I actually had something else in my mind when I read this excellent post on ‘s blog titled “Unsolicited Advice For The Next Minister of Education”. Image source: Free Malaysia Today

By the way, for those of you may not be familiar with Dr Bakri Musa, he is a Malaysian-born and Canadian-trained surgeon in private practice in Silicon Valley, California. He is also a well known speaker and writer related to current issues. The full detail of his bio-data is listed here.

Read More »Education Malaysia 2020: Bakri Musa’s Advice For The Minister of Education

Education Malaysia 2020: Which is Better – TIMSS vs PISA?

timss

(The differences between PISA & – Table source: https://theeconomyofmeaning.com)

As I was drafting the post on OECD Big Data and reading PISA articles, my son stopped at my working desk and asked me whether I will be evaluating TIMSS as well.

I was not aware of TIMSS before this so when my son mentioned it, it sounded Greek and I knew I needed to dig further for details.

Read More »Education Malaysia 2020: Which is Better – TIMSS vs PISA?