Some would go to great lengths in skewing statistics in order to achieve that desired result. Certainly a positive result would increase one’s chances of being accepted in a renowned journal. Others might fabricate methodologies so that all would look proper on paper.

Indeed, at the end of the day, what is important is that it all looks well and proper on paper. This is what matters to editors of those journals.

The question is, are there truly ethics in the academia when it comes to publishing? Or is the mad dash for publications forcing academicians to skirt the boundaries of ethical practices in research?

Although it is important to educate the audience on your background and expertise, it is often unnecessary to remind your audience of this fact. Most educated audiences would have gotten that information at the start of your talk.

Often the humility of the speaker would be more appealing to the audience. This actually portrays confidence as opposed to insecurity.

So please spare me the agony, my dear speakers.

Note : at a conference in Singapore.

She is teething but does it cause so much of feeding difficulties? We have been scouring the internet for answers but can’t find any useful ones.

I really hope that the situation will improve soon. It is worrying the bell out of us . Fortunately, it is a holiday week making caring for her a little less stressful.

Sigh!

However, the civil service is often equated to the Barisan Nasional government. How many times have we seen government projects being labelled as “Projek Barisan Nasional” !

Hello! It is a federal government’s project using taxpayer’s money. It should just read “Projek Kerajaan Persekutuan”. The people would not expect anything less from the Federal Government. To hijack the project and make it your own is just wrong, unless it was fully paid for using the money from the political parties making up Barisan Nasional.

How many times has the BN government hoodwinked the people into believing that BN is the only party that can bring progress.

The country remains the same but we can change the managers. It should not mean that changing the manager will deprive the country of its financial resource, unless the manager has plundered the wealth of the country.

Malaysia does not belong to BN. They have to get that into their thick skulls. It belongs to her citizens. We are the shareholders. So treat us with respect, not condescending remarks that make a mockery of our intelligence.

Let this country be great again for the benefit of all. Let the bumiputeras finally rise equally after years of abuse by the select Umnoputras using the NEP.

Then the doctor tells us, “do you want the MMR/MMRV “? These days everything comes in combinations, even our foods as well!

Most would have thought that it would be Hobson’s choice. One less injection for your baby is a good thing isn’t it? Of course, the doctor was advocating it. After all, he has ordered his vaccination stocks.

Initially, I thought , great, one less visit to the doctor is good. The doctor made little attempt to explain more when we probed on the safety, merely brushing aside our questions as silly , over worried parents.

We went ahead with it. The first week was fine and we were relieved we made the decision for the combined vaccine.

After a week, Charlize started developing fever and some rashes. We thought could it be due to the vaccination? We thought probably not as it has already been a week since the injection.

Only then did we do a search and found to our horror that the risk of fever and febrile seizures were much higher with the MMRV vaccine rather than a split dose. This was clearly not mentioned to us by the doctor, when we were making a decision.

Gladly, nothing untoward happened and Charlize is back to her usual self.

The lesson, “do your own research before any decision. Sadly never believe that your doctor is telling you everything.” This is the irony, isn’t it?

She can crawl and grab objects quite well. She can also stand with assistance but still cannot walk. She seems quite docile and prefers to sit most of the time.

She likes watching a particular type of baby video “Your Baby Can Read”. This series seem to be able to hold her attention long enough for us to have a break and write this entry.

At this point, whatever she holds is hers and she refuses to allow you to take it away until her attention is diverted to something more interesting.

We are still trying to find a solution to her aversion for milk. It does not really depend on the type of formula. Everything that smells milk is disliked. Even feeding her cereal or porridge is a daily challenge.

Our weekends are now fully occupied and there is hardy any time to do other things.

The challenge of being parents is fully felt now. Sometimes the frustration tells. At this time any thing more than one child is deemed ridiculous.

Let’s hope that Charlize ‘ s eating habits will improve in the next few weeks.

I find these days that every event is being turned into a racial or a religious issue at any opportunity. It is baffling that PERKASA is warning against this rally when in fact, there is little to do with them. I was puzzled, so I looked up the reasons for the latest call to demonstrate.

From bersih.org ,

The demands of the rally are:
-Clean the electoral roll
-Reform postal vote
-Use indelible ink
-Free & fair access to media
-Minimum 21 days campaign period
-Strengthen public institutions
-Stop corruption
-Stop dirty politics

Is there anything wrong with these demands? Instead of engaging this group actively, there is an attempt to silence them. This only instigates more rebellion when the Government is seen as antagonistic to these ideas, which should be the ideals of any elections. Of course, the Government denies that elections are unfair and often points to their massive loss in the last General Election as a testament to its fairness. That was during PM Badawi’s time, a more liberal leader than PM Najib.

Back to PERKASA, why are they even involved in this fight?? Who do they represent actually? UMNO??

Let me tell you how corrupt our government agencies can be? A recent event by a non-governmental organisation representing patients, which needed police approval was delayed until a “payment” was made. Despite an initial attempt to resist this, there was little choice if the event is to materialise on time. It is accepted as a norm to “pay” police officers. If such an activity is rampant at this level, I shudder to think of the degree of corruption at a much higher level.

I think to avoid a BERSIH rally, the government should actively engage this group of people and show transparency in attempts to rectify or prove that steps are taken to ensure a fair and just election. This is not very hard to do. But any attempt to force the issue is usually met with stiff resistance and threats of violence.

Malaysia is my country as well and I hope that cooler heads will prevail on both sides of the divide.

The amazing thing is that a mainstream newspaper picked up the story and decided to splash it on the front page! Since then, it has become a factual news to the extend that the Prime Minister had to call for a meeting with Christian leaders to clarify the situation.

Apart from wrist slapping, there has been no concrete action taken against Utusan Malaysia and the blogger(s) concerned. Their actions are seditious and was meant to cause unrest among Malaysians. This should fall under the purview of the Internal Security Act. Unfortunately, this Act is commonly used to silence opposing politicians and not unscrupulous Government supporters!

I am sure many of us are astounded by the incredibility of the situation. Why has this occurred? Does the Government think that we, Malaysians are that stupid not to see the ridiculousness of the situation?

I hope that sensible Malaysians will see through the Government’s attempts to stir emotions by playing up racial and religious issues, to ensure political survival of a coalition government that is based on race. It is unfortunate that MCA and MIC are mute in response, and so are the coalition members, who are mainly Christian especially those in East Malaysia. It appears political survival supercedes national unity.

We will see in the next General Election. What tactics will the Government employ in their very desperate attempts at staying in power. As Najib himself has declared, he will do everything in his power to prevent the opposition parties from taking Putrajaya.

This is the battle cry of MCA. Such a desperate call is evidence that MCA is aware that they are no longer the legitimate party representing the Chinese in Malaysia. Although they may currently be in the governing body by virtue of being a component party of Barisan Nasional, in reality, they no longer can be the voice of the Chinese in Malaysia.

Holding voters to ransom is hardly a wise choice. It will likely backfire on a party that is losing significant ground in capturing the support of the people that they supposedly represent.

If MCA wants to vacate the traditional allocation given to them in the Federal government, it is their choice. It is a do or die gamble for them. Rather than attempting to recapture the imagination of the Chinese through innovative and progressive measures, they have resorted to such menial tactics.

The Chinese did not vote DAP because it is a “Chinese” party but rather because it believed in the Malaysian dream. It is obvious that BN parties are not getting this but instead play up racial issues. This is obvious when their very existence depends on such racial segregation. UMNO for Malays, MCA for Chinese and MIC for Indians. Such divide and rule tactics are from the colonial era and is archaic.

Unless BN moves with the times, they are likely to lose further support from Malaysians in general.