Where there’s a will, there’s a way

 

THERE have been calls for the Government to allow the use of English as a medium of instruction in schools again. As there are Chinese and Tamil primary schools alongside national schools, Malaysians should have the freedom for another option. Presently, English as a medium of instruction is already available but only in private and international schools. Only a small percentage of Malaysians can afford to go to such schools.

I HAD my early education at a Chinese primary school in Bidor, Perak. Upon completing my Standard Six examination in the school, I moved on to the Government English Secondary School in Tapah, where I completed a year of Remove Class before going on to Form One.

I had my upper secondary education at Ipoh’s St Michael’s Institution (SMK St Michael Ipoh) and then pursued my tertiary studies at Universiti Sains Malaysia and later at Universiti Malaya.

I taught Mathematics and Physics in secondary schools for many years before being promoted to school prinicpal. I have now retired

Since I was in a Chinese school during my primary school years, I wasn’t at all good in the English language.

However, in Remove Class, I knew that I had to brush up on the language if I were to move up and do well in my studies.

To improve my English, one of the first things I did as a teen, was to keep a diary to record the daily happenings in my life.

My daily jottings also included my thoughts on events and activities both at school and at home.

We used to live in a shophouse. My father used its front portion to run his his Chinese medicine shop. There was a counter from where he conducted his business and surrounding it, were shelves of medicine that we referred to as the “medicine house” in Chinese.

We also had a “money room” but contrary to what most people might think, we did not stash bundles of cash and coins there. In fact, it was a cubicle at the back of our shophouse where my father would count the day’s takings, keep his books and carry out some administrative tasks.

Looking back, learning English has been a long and arduous journey for me — I often mixed up my tenses, misspelt words and even used the wrong words when I wrote and spoke; in fact, in many instances, I would directly translate from Chinese to English!

I cannot help but be amused by what I wrote then — thinking in good Chinese and writing in bad English! It seemed like a comedy of errors.

The image on the right is a page from my diary when I was in Remove Class. It was a Thursday, the 11th day of the first month in 1962. It reads as follows:

The Chinese New Year come nearly. To-day my mother asked us to clean the house. It was a hard work, because we must wash the ground, clean the kitten, door, bedroom, sitting place and money room. We started the work at 10.00am. First we clean the door, than the money room, medicine house, kitten, bed room. We washed the ground. 

All my brothers and sister were worked very hard. At about 2.00pm, we stoped our work and ate something. Then we continued our work. Everybody work with hard and happly. At about 4.30pm we have finished our work. To-day, we all felt very happly.

From the diary jottings above, it is obvious that my English then was “below average”.

However, my reason for attaching this page from my diary, is to urge English language learners not to be discouraged. It is through sheer perseverance that I overcame the challenges before me.

I was passionate about learning English and as the saying goes: Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

By LIONG KAM CHONG, Seremban, Negri Sembilan, The Star

Malware, ransomware attacks are a growing threat to computer and mobile phone!

FORGET pickpockets or thieves. The biggest threat to your smartphone now is kidnappers cyber “kidnappers” that is, with their Ransomware.

As the name suggests, ransomware is a malware (malicious software) that will keep your phone or computer a prisoner until you pay a ransom. Only when the specified amount of money is paid will you be able to “free” your device and access data or information.

Although it is not new ransomware is said to originate from Russia in 2005 and has been attacking many computers worldwide since the Symantec Corp Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR) Volume 18 revealed that ransomware is emerging as the malware of choice because of its high profitability for attackers.

Luckily, says Symantec Malaysia's senior technical consultant David Rajoo, to his knowledge, no cases have been reported here yet.

“However, as the worldwide web has no boundaries and with increasing broadband penetration and as more users are accessing the Internet, Malaysia is certainly exposed to the Ransomware threats,” he says.

Infected machines display messages which demand payment in order to restore functionality. - David Rajoo

Rajoo points out that awareness is key to combat ransomware threat.

As the report highlights, attackers are using deceptive links and poisoned websites to infect unsuspecting users with malicious software and lock their machines.

“The attackers, many of them cybercriminal organisations, then hold users' machines for ransom. Infected machines display messages which demand payment in order to restore functionality,” he tells.

Recent attacks have also displayed images that impersonate law enforcement.

Consumers on the Android platform are most vulnerable to ransomware and mobile threats, says the report.

Last year, mobile malware increased by 58%, and 32% of all mobile threats attempted to steal information, such as e-mail addresses and phone numbers.

Although Android has fewer vulnerabilities, its threats are higher than any other mobile operating system. Its open platform and the multiple distribution methods available to distribute malicious apps make it the go-to platform for attackers, adds the report.

With malware growing sophisticated every day, Rajoo adds, a mix of intelligence-based technologies can provide optimal security to stop new and unknown malware.

To avoid getting infected, ensure the device's software and anti-virus definitions are up to date, and avoid suspicious sites, Rajoo advises.

“We also advise users to use more than antivirus for protection. We recommend using advanced reputation security which provides layered defence. Use more than just Antivirus use a full functionality solution which includes heuristics, reputation-based, behaviour-based and other technologies,” he says, stressing that a key strategy is to fend off threats before they infiltrate your computer system.

Symantec Malaysia's Systems Engineering director Nigel Tan agrees that stopping the threat at the gate is important as cyber criminals continue to devise new ways to steal information from organisations of all sizes.

Staying ahead of attacks

“The sophistication of attacks coupled with today's information technology complexities require organisations in Malaysia and globally to remain proactive and use “defence in depth” security measures to stay ahead of attacks,” he added.

According to the annual ISTR which analyses the year in global threat activity, Malaysia was ranked 35th on its global Internet security threat profile in 2012.

As it highlights, there was a 42% surge last year in targeted attacks globally compared with the prior year.

These targeted cyberespionage attacks, designed to steal intellectual property, are increasingly hitting the manufacturing sector as well as small businesses, which are the target of 31% of these attacks.

Small businesses are attractive targets themselves and a way in to ultimately reach larger companies via “watering hole” techniques.

In a watering hole attack scenario, attackers compromise a carefully selected website by inserting an exploit resulting in malware infection. Through the compromised website, the attackers will target victims who visit the compromised site and take advantage of their software vulnerabilities to drop malware that will allow them to access sensitive data and take control of the vulnerable system.

As Symantec alerts, 61% of malicious websites are actually legitimate websites that have been compromised and infected with malicious code.

Business, technology and shopping websites were among the top five types of websites hosting infections. The shift of focus from government websites indicates an increase in attacks targeting the supply chain cybercriminals find these contractors and subcontractors susceptible to attacks and they are often in possession of valuable intellectual property.

The attack uses the security weaknesses in the supply chain specifically the small businesses to gain access into larger and more secured companies, adds Symantec.

Case in point is that those in sales became the most commonly targeted victims last year.

Another growing source of infections on websites is malvertisements this is when criminals buy advertising space on legitimate websites and use it to hide their attack code.

Tan urges organisations to continue to take proactive initiatives to secure and manage critical information from a variety of security risks, especially targeted attacks in the manufacturing and small business sectors, mobile malware, and phishing threats.

By HARIATI AZIZAN sunday@thestar.com

New China-US relationship can avoid past traps

 

President Xi Jinping of China and President Obama took a walk Saturday on the grounds of the Sunnylands estate in California. 

At the informal meeting between the heads of China and the US on Friday, Xi Jinping expressed China's confidence that the two nations can avoid repeating history of conflicts between two powers; while Barack Obama welcomed China's peaceful rise.

This may be the most exciting statement between an existing power and a rising power. As Chinese, we can feel that the Chinese leader was speaking from the nation's heart, though we do not know if Obama was just trying to assure his guest, or expressing the real feelings of Americans.

This is a reflection of long-term strategic distrust between the two countries. We often doubt whether the real intentions of the US are not as friendly as its leader has stated. On the other hand, the Americans may not really believe what China has declared.

Relations between China and the US are more complicated than ever. There are numerous cases of frictions between the two countries in various areas, which have heavily influenced public opinions on both sides.

China cares about individual issues as much as the US. But it baffles us when the US raises many issues, such as cyber security, to a height closely related to strategic relations between the two countries. Is it a hoax to threaten China, or is it because the US believes each of the issues is more important than anything else?

The US leadership style has changed as each opposing political party takes charge. It appears urgent for each president to solve a particular issue. They have to make sure the handling of the Sino-US relationship is practical and yields tangible results as soon as possible.

It's unfair to think that China does not want to solve concrete issues. But what the US has demanded is often impossible for China to comply with.

Some of the demands are too selfish, which may require China to compromise its national interests while the US refuses to concede an inch. Other issues, such as intellectual property rights, may simply be too complicated to immediately solve.

The new relationship between the two powers will be based on a restructuring of the two countries' strategic thoughts as well as approaches in particular issues. It is not going to be easy for either leader to avoid misinterpreting the other side's intentions.

The new ties will require greater tolerance of each other. China and the US must realize that even a husband and wife can not avoid quarrels and have to tolerate each other.

Although the Sino-US relationship will see ups and downs, we know it would be even more difficult to deal with a major setback, as that would be against this historic momentum - Global Times

Related post:

Xi-Obama summit aims to boost ties, aspirations between China and USA