Trees pruning must be with loving care! Where are the experts?

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Be more refined in pruning trees

WITH reference to “‘Tree killers’ at work in Penang” (The Star, Jan 10), I support fully the call to local authorities to be more sensitive and refined in their pruning techniques.

Whoever the contractors were, it should be obvious by the sight of their boorish handiwork how much they know about botany or care about the trees unfortunate enough to be marked out for their chainsaw massacre.

It is heart-wrenching to see lush, green trees that have taken so many years to grow – and which are so vital to our environment – turned into wretched mutilated stumps overnight.

In all the pruning work I’ve seen in the city, never have I seen anyone approaching a “professional” supervising the work.

Don’t the local authorities, whether MPPP or JKR, have any one suitably qualified? Can’t they ask the Botanic Gardens for help? Or would anyone with a crane and a chainsaw suffice?

CH’NG HAN WEI,
Batu Feringghi, Penang, The Star



Treat our trees with loving care

AS a resident of Penang, I was so happy to read StarMetro North front-page story ‘Tree Torture’ on Tuesday.

That story highlighted the hacking of trees by a private contractor and the lack of supervision over such an important project which has far reaching implications.

The majority of visitors to Penang come here not to look at new concrete housing and highrises.

They want to enjoy the traditional architecture, the food and the scenery which includes the beautiful trees that line our streets.

Now, these trees — which are one of the most important elements that set Penang apart from other cities — are fast disappearing.

The increasing destruction of trees is evident almost every day.

Many businessmen are now destroying trees illegally to make way for advertising signs which are eyesores. This is such an oversight.

Destroy the trees and you destroy the heritage and birthright of future generations to enjoy.

As trees vanish, I guarantee, so will the tourists to Penang.

LEWIS, Penang.The Star 

Friday January 13, 2012, The Star

Where are the experts? 

It’s a bad job, says writer

ALLOW me to comment on StarMetro North story ‘One hack of a job’ which appeared on Tuesday.

State exco member Lim Hock Seng, who is chairman of Public Works, Utilities and Transport, said in his reply that the contractor ‘did not do pruning often so it was not practical to just trim a bit’.

To me, this is a silly and unacceptable explanation. It means it is acceptable practice by a contractor to do massive cutting of tree branches even to the extent of them becoming ‘bald.’ No wonder this has been practised by the Public Works Department and Penang Muni-cipal Council (MPPP.)

On MPPP president Patahiyah Ismail’s statement in the second story titled ‘Tree pruning necessary’ on Wednesday that the council sought advice from experts before executing pruning projects, I am sorry I don’t think so.

From my observations when council workers carry out massive cutting or pollarding of roadside trees, the huge branches cut down are still healthy.

There are no ‘so-called’ experts around to give advice, just manual workers doing the job cutting at their pleasure.

Branches are left by the roadside or pavement for a day to three sometimes, before being removed forcing pedestrians to walk on busy roads, thus endangering themselves.

Maybe, this is in keeping Penang green and clean. I have brought (this issue) to Patahiyah’s attention by e-mail. She directed her landscape officer to reply with a silly explanation.

I have also forwarded pictures at Edgecumbe Road, Pulau Tikus, taken on July 1 last year, to Patahiyah. Note the massive cutting on July 20 last year as well as the bald tree in the latest picture taken on Wednesday. This tree is now dead.

Is this advice from experts? What a disappointment from the statements of both parties.

AB YEE, Penang

Social climbers in Malaysia: Race, Datuk, Datin or Puan Sri, not professional meritocracy

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Social climbers aplenty

A Writer's Life By Dina Zaman

In Malaysia, titles carry a lot of weight. People lie about their names, and some second wives even insist on being addressed as Datin or Puan Sri.

IT all began when I met a fortune teller in Butterworth who chided me for not using my honorific title before the name that you see now. In other words, a family title.

“If you acknowledge this heritage, this name that your family ancestors gave you, you will become very, very, very rich!” she said.

I thought, I could live with that. I am tired of being a financially struggling writer.

A month or two later, I edited my LinkedIn profile and put, ahem, the title in front of my name. Boom! Boom! Boom! I received a monthly average of three potential connections to link with.

Now, I have been a member of LinkedIn.com for more than seven years, and I would receive an invitation to connect like, perhaps, once every two to three months.

This very strange phenomenon affirmed the following to me: First, I’m not a celebrity, hot, and popular. These new friendships confirmed to me that a lot of Malaysians in general are social climbers and will only befriend you if you have wealth and social standing.

My charming personality and some brains have nothing to do with my instant popularity. Tsk.

Before we go on, allow me to clarify a few things. I do have a title tagged to the name my parents gave me. I do not understand why there are women who want to marry into the firm, because having an honorific is hell on forms and documents.

I am grateful that my parents gave me a beautiful name. Maybe at that time of registration, in 1969, there were many tiny boxes to fill in my title and name, but 21st century forms are horrible to fill in your particulars.



Two. Maybe I am related to some very titled and privileged people and maybe I am not. So don’t bother befriending me. I cannot guarantee you an invitation to the istana or a royal event.

I myself do not attend such dos. The one or two times I had been invited, I had to cover an event. If there ever was a personal invitation, and I cannot remember any, I chose to sleep.

I have always invested in very nice beds and mattresses. They win hands down all the time.

Also, if I am related to some Tengku or Raja, it would be 100 times removed. I call myself a SociaLIKE. I only mingle with people I like.

That LinkedIn caper left a bitter taste in my mouth. Surely all the work I had done over these 18 years would have amounted to something. I worked very hard to get to the little mountain I am on now. I can do this, and I can do that.

Actually, I am smarter than some of these titled people. Still, was an honorific my passport to professional and social success?

Unfortunately in Malaysia, titles carry a lot of weight. People even lie about their names.

Friends who work in events and public relations will call me, laughing over guests’ pretensions. “Wah, since when ah, did this person become a Tengku, or Datuk?”

I myself have seen a business card which had the grandfather’s datukship! Since the person’s father was not a datuk but the grandfather was, the person insisted on having it on the card.

How do you take someone like this seriously? Obviously many do, because the person is a director of a public-listed company.

I have also met second wives who insist on being addressed as Datin or Puan Sri. Darlings, think what you will, but that privilege belongs to the first wives only. Non-negotiable. Lu sudah sapu sama laki, mau sapu title pulak?

There is little professional meritocracy practised in this country: it’s not just your race, it’s who you are related to, who you know in this country, (and perhaps also the bomoh you’ve hired) that gets you places.

This may be 2012, but Malaysia is very much a feudal society. A title may not get you that timber deal, but at least the waiting staff or sales clerk will stand to attention.

And perhaps this is why we hold on to social status like a limpet: because there are so few honest successes in this country.

I have been asked before what I thought of the monarchy in Malaysia. If there is one legacy any monarchy should have, it would be that it has served its people well.

It should act intelligently and be compassionate. It should not be known for excess and wastefulness,
especially in times of austerity. Granted, there are a number of royals who have contributed to the country, but how many have left proper legacies?

I do enjoy reading the Malayan history of monarchy and aristocracy. Reading the Hikayats make me yearn for simpler days. Modern day aristocracy has lost that romance, refinement and adat.

Three months into my experiment, I was already getting irritated by requests to connect. My e-mail was constantly alerting me of new possible friends I could network with. And I still have yet to hit the jackpot. So I called the fortune teller in Butterworth.

“Aunty! Apa dei, I put the title in front of my name and I’m still not rich la!”

“Aiyo, it is the month. The stars are not aligned … you see, my dear …”

I squawked on the other side of the phone. I had no time to deal with astrological alignments. I went to my laptop and edited my LinkedIn.com profile. Goodbye title.

And what a marked change. To date, I have only had two requests to network with me, and these were old friends from university. I like it that way.

To those who added me on the basis of my name, I don’t want to do business with you. And to those who appreciate my work, and think that there are possibilities, you know how to get me.

> Dina Zaman is a writer based in KL. She is interested in Malaysian religious histories and its people.

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Hidden hands at work; UiTM Bumi-students against the intake of Non-Bumi!

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Hidden hands at work

THE Malaysian education system, despite some weaknesses, was one of the best in the world. This I learnt in 1984 when I was doing a Master’s course in Education and took an option entitled “Education in Developing Countries”.

The policies on the whole, grounded on sound education principles, were rational.

However, today, there are hidden hands which subvert government policy. Some parents have complained to me that a principal of a national-type secondary school in Kuala Lumpur had made it mandatory for her SPM students this year to take only nine subjects.

So no Bible Knowledge for the SPM, no Bahasa Cina, Bahasa Tamil, Bahasa Punjabi, etc. Not only that, she calls in the students who wish to take the 10th subject to dissuade them from signing up by asking them whether they are confident of getting an A for that subject.

This is surely wrong. No principal should be allowed to override the National Education Policy. Education is not solely about getting As.



The Malaysian education system rightly emphasises holistic education and has given students a wide choice to pursue subjects according to their aptitude and ability.

They should be free to take, as their 10th subject, Music Education, etc, which is allowed under the rules of the Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia.

All that the principal should ask for is proof that the students are being instructed in the subject of their choice by their attendance and course work, but they should not be banned from signing up and studying for their 10th subject by personal agendas of school principals.

It makes me think whether this emphasis on academic As is due to heads desiring their schools to be high performing schools, and the top administrators getting monetary rewards for their schools’ success.

Very often, to get a high Grade Point Average, the schools would have to control the intake of students (only bright students need apply) and control the number of subjects they take.

But is this what education is all about? What happens to the students not academically inclined?

It could be that the “blue ocean” strategy employed to upgrade the national education system is used wrongly here. The schools which are better endowed would have an inbuilt advantage and the top administrators of such schools would be monetarily rewarded.

But is monetary reward for individuals the proper incentive? Should not the schools’ infrastructure be upgraded? Or the very fact that they have made it to the elite club of top performing schools be enough – no need for other rewards?

Should not the schools which are less well endowed be given more to make them better?

May I suggest that in this race to be a high performing school, there should be recognition for schools which have a heart for their students.

A rethink should be made about the NKRAs for education and

the monetary rewards for top administrators of high performing schools.

EDUCATIONIST, Petaling Jaya.
The Star Jan 11, 2012 

UiTM Bumi-students against the intake of Non-Bumi students into UiTM!

Maybe they should protest on non-bumi paying the TAXES so that a University like this cannot be built on the tax-payers' $$. 

PM 'Najib'.., Is this the "1-Malaysia" you wanted it to be in reality?

 

Malaysians!! All true Malaysian of all races ...WAKE UP & BE COUNTED !

Make sure your hard earned money is not used to produce such graduates!

           

 

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